CHR denounces confiscation of photojournalist’s equipment during coverage

Commission on Human Rights INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday denounced the confiscation of a photojournalist’s equipment during coverage, tagging it as an “outright obstruction to the right of every Filipino to fact-based information.”

The CHR made the pronouncement after the belongings of a photojournalist were confiscated by a security agency, despite being a part of the media covering a land dispute in Silang, Cavite.

“We emphasize that the confiscation of media equipment not only hampers every journalist’s freedom of speech but also jeopardizes the very information that they are able to identify based on their data gathering process,” the CHR said in a statement.

“Any attempt to further cultivate a culture of fear amongst journalists adversely impacts the safety of every media worker in the country and is an outright obstruction to the right of every Filipino to fact-based information,” it added.

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According to the CHR, such acts hindering the media’s ability to deliver information to the public “bring forth a critical implication to the free movement of information in a democratic society.”

It reminded all authorities, including security agencies, that similar practices undermine efforts to protect the freedom of the press.

Meanwhile, the CHR also urged the immediate return of the journalists’ belongings, calling on all relevant government agencies to act on this incident and hold those accountable under the law.

In a recent statement, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) bared that it was private guards of Jarton Security Agency who confiscated the equipment of its member Jose Monsieur Santos.