THE World Press Freedom Index by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has continued to rank the Philippines as a “dangerous place” for journalists.

This is after they slipped further to 134th place out of 180 countries.

The 2024 rank saw PH go down by two notches, from the previous 132ng rank in 2023, when the country improved 14 places in the index.

According to the RSF report, they said that “there seem to have been fewer and less violent attacks” against Filipino journalists under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.

However the “few” events were “still worrisome.”

“Harassment by means of threats and ‘red-tagging’ persists, while defamation and cyber-defamation are still punishable by prison sentences,” RSF said.

“The Philippine media are extremely dynamic despite the government’s targeted attacks and constant harassment of journalists and media outlets regarded as overly critical, especially since 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte became president,” they added.

Courtesy: AFP

The 1987 Constition of the Philippines had guaranteed freedom of the press. 

But according to the RSF, the Philippine law “does not protect journalistic freedom in practice.” 

RSF said that when compared to the Duterte administration’s stance on journalists, Marcos “is more consensual, but the authorities still often resort to ‘red-tagging.'”

According to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), their research showed that there had been 135 cases of attacks and threats against media workers, since Marcos Jr., took over the rle of Chief executive from July 1, 2022 to April 30 this year.

Marcos Jr., had praised journalists during World Press Freedom Day for “their courage in conveying unbiased reports” and “being stalwarts of truth and transparency.”