PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said his administration would not tolerate violation and repression of media.
During his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the joint session of the 17th Congress at the House of Representatives, Duterte said the media are his “partners for change.”
He made the statement after he drew flak for supposedly condoning extrajudicial killings of corrupt media practitioners who were paid to attack or defend politicians.
READ: Duterte: Media corruption root cause of journalists’ killings
Duterte had said before that journalists in the payroll of politicians are risking being killed for getting involved in corruption.
“This government does not condone violation and repression of media,” Duterte said in his Sona.
“The bonafide media [have] always been our partners for change,” he added.
Duterte appeared to be extending a hand of reconciliation to media when he announced that he had formed a superbody to investigate the extrajudicial killings of journalists./rga
READ: Duterte dares media: Boycott me!
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