‘I believe that the President selected me to lead the [Presidential Task Force on Media Security] to come out with the truth, to really protect media practitioners,’ Joe Torres tells host Caloy Conde
MANILA, Philippines – Journalist Caloy Conde on his podcast, posted on YouTube, Sunday, November 17, talked to fellow newsman Joe Torres, the new chief of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), on his vow to change the agency to actually fulfill its task of protecting journalists.
Chief among these changes is ending the practice of his predecessors to red-tag journalists or associating critical media with communist insurgents out to overthrow the government.
Torres said he was feeling “quite nervous and challenged” about the new office and fulfilling the tasks that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has outlined for him. “Definitely, there will be no red tagging, there will be no labeling,” he added.
Marcos directed the PTFOMS to “engage and to closely coordinate and work with the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas, the National Press Club of the Philippines, and the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines.”
Torres promised to cooperate with these organizations in the pursuit of securing journalist welfare. He also said that the President was “very specific” about focusing on local media who are experiencing danger because of political issues. The President wants PTFOMS to work directly with local media.
He also said he hoped to have a dialogue “between the media and, for example, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Activities or NTF-ELCAC and the security sector so that “all the issues that have been mentioned in the past [would be] cleared.”
“And the challenge, of course, is to really listen to the media, to talk with them about their needs,” Torres said. But he also acknowledged the limitations of PTFOMS given it is only a task force co-chaired by the Department of Justice to monitor and assist in cases involving journalists.
PTFOMS, under Torres, hopes to expedite cases, especially those involving threats and killings by working closely with the Department of Justice, as the task force itself doesn’t have “prosecutory power,” Torres said.
Torres said the task force’s mandate is to “look into issues about media security, press freedom, and media safety, and of course, welfare.”
Among the concrete changes that Torres is looking into is redefining when the murder of a journalist is considered “case closed.” Current practice defines a case as being closed when a suspect has been identified, even if the said suspect has not yet been prosecuted, indicted or convicted.
Torres explained, “I really want to clarify those things. I know that the police, when they identify suspects, they will say that the case is closed or solved.”
“But there should be clarification. There should be a definition of what closed or solved means.”
Financial realities, ending impunity
Another issue mentioned is the finances for media organizations, especially in the provinces or in smaller communities where local politicians are able to provide funding. Torres said on the matter, “I think all the media organizations, and even the government would really emphasize on training, workshops, to be fair, maybe not balanced, but to be fair in our journalism, to be ethical.”
“….I believe that the President selected me to lead the PTFOMS to come out with the truth, to really protect media practitioners, and to work, to be honest about what’s really going on. We can only talk about press freedom if there are no threats to, or there are no fears among media practitioners.”
But given hard circumstances, Torres said, “We don’t want to blame the media for this lack of economic or financial business” which would lead to local politicians funding media.
On the flip side, Conde noted how local politicians might be trained to not be so “onion-skinned” against critical media, and to not to resort to violence. He said how politicians resort to violence because they have been able to do so with impunity, and that is the challenge for PTFOMS.
Conde said, “I think from my perspective as a human rights advocate now, ending impunity is a really, really top — should be — a top priority. I mean, we all agree that people who get away with murder, I mean, be it journalists or activists, that’s the reason why…there are murders that are going to be committed because of that impunity, right?
“We have those array of laws [including cyberlibel laws] that we really have to look into and review. And there is no reason for the offended party to just attack and kill journalists because of their opinion.”
While Torres has been given the position by the President, he has yet to take his oath at the time of publication of the podcast. – Rappler.com
