Radio Veritas slams curbs on press freedom

The radio station run by the Catholic Church has deplored the Duterte administration’s “brazen act” in curtailing free speech and press freedom, following the revocation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the news website Rappler’s license to operate.

Radio Veritas warned that “a government that curtails free speech and freedom of the press is tantamount to a ‘reign of darkness’” similar to the dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos.

Fr. Anton Pascual, Radio Veritas president, said that the government “should come clean” on the issue of free speech, press freedom and the SEC’s recent move.

“It is not proper for the Office of the President to use government agencies to harass or silence any media outfit or institution that are not subservient to the administration’s wishes,” he said in a statement posted on the station’s website.

Last month, the SEC revoked Rappler’s license and canceled its certificate of incorporation on claims that it violated constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership. —JULIE M. AURELIO