PTFoMS, bumuwelta tinawag na ‘twisted’ ang CMFR report

Binuweltahan ngayon ni Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco ang mga media organizations sa usaping nagpapakalat ito ng disinformation dahil sa naging pahayag sa press caravan sa Belgium.

Sa statement ng PTFoMS, inulit lamang daw ni Egco ang remark ng Danish envoy na sinisisi ang ilang media outlets dahil sa negative news reportage sa Pilipinas partikular na ang mga report kung saan concern dito ang gobyerno.

“Usec. Egco merely echoed the statement of His Excellency Jan Top Christensen, ambassador of Denmark to the Philippines, during the multi-stakeholder consultation for the safety of journalists organized by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and International Media Support last November. In this event, Ambassador Christensen remarked that some of the media in the Philippines are systematically negative and therefore are not able to present what the government is doing, a practice he attributed to poor compliance with journalism standards,” base sa statement.

Ginawa ng PTFoMS ang naturang komento matapos upakan ng Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) at National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) si Egco sa kanyang presentation sa Press Freedom Caravan na ginanap sa Brussels, Belgium noong nakaraang linggo.

Inakusahan ng CMFR at NUJP na nagpapakalat ng disinformation ang PTFoMS Executive Director.

Una rito, sinabi ni NUJP-Europe chair Macel Ingles na sinabi ni Egco na responsable ang dalawang media groups sa pagpapakalat ng negatibong balita sa Pilipinas.

Pero mariin naman itong itinanggi ng PTFoMS at sinabing si Danish envoy Jan Top Christensen ang gumawa sa naturang remark noon pang November 2018.

“Macel Ingles, erroneously attributed to Usec. Egco some previous statements from other sources without taking them in the proper context. It considered Usec. Egco’s presentation as an attack on press freedom. It must be pointed out, however, that the report lacked due diligence and focused on the sensational, or at the very least, misappreciated the facts. These acts are considered to be grossly unethical,” dagdag ng PTFoMS.