Initiated by De La Salle Philippines President Br. Armin Luistro FSC’s call to defend press freedom, De La Salle University (DLSU) organized a mass and candle-lighting ceremony at the Pearl of Great Price (PGP) Chapel and La Salle (LS) Facade yesterday, February 15, to show their support in defending press freedom after Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s arrest last February 13.
The event was opened with a mass presided by Fr. John Paul Escalada at the PGP Chapel and immediately followed by the candle-lighting ceremony held at the LS Facade. It was attended by Benildeans and Lasallians. Statements from the following Lasallian organizations were expressed during the candle-lighting ceremony.
Support from campus journalists
A DLSU Student Media Council member stated, “The council, consisting of students striving for truthful and unbiased journalism, stands with the Lasallian community in protecting the freedom of the press.”
Aside from the official statement of Ang Pahayagang Plaridel, their Editor in Chief (EIC) Samirah Tamayo expressed, “Mahirap magsulat, ngunit kinakailangan.”
Meanwhile, The LaSallian EIC Cara Patalinghog expressed their official statement that said, “The LaSallian is one with journalists who fearlessly go after stories despite the risks that come with it, with the sole intention of opening eyes and upholding the rights and freedoms of the people.”
“It’s an uphill battle for all of us, maraming aaway sa atin lalong-lalo na sa social media, […] we need every one body to win this war so let’s go and fight in the trenches,” Bart Guingona of the Democracy and the Disinformation Consortium said.
From Rappler
To shed light as to what had happened during Ressa’s arrest, one of Rappler’s multimedia reporters Aika Rey, who witnessed the incident, shared that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officers suddenly went inside their office. She and the other reporters were shocked when their editor told them to ‘prepare themselves,’ to which they responded to by recording the event on their cellphones.
Rey recorded the video on Facebook live. While recording, she was told by one of the officers to stop recording the incident, “Tinanong ko siya, sabi ko, ‘Bakit po? Can you explain to me why? And sabi niya sa akin, ‘No explanation for now.’”
Rey, however, refused to comply, to which the officer responded with “Come on, can you please stop doing what you’re doing? If we see our faces on the net, you will be sorry. You’ve been warned. We’ll go after you.”
“Hindi lang ito laban ng Rappler o ng mamahayag, laban ito ng isa’t isa para sa ating mga karapatan para na siyang sandalan ng demokrasya,” she said.
Rey then read an excerpt of Rappler’s official statement on the matter, concluding her testimony with a chilling statement, “If they went after us, sure enough, they’ll go after you. They’ll go after each and every one of you.”
Moreover, Rappler News Editor Miriam Grace Go expressed her thoughts on the issue in an interview with The Benildean. She also witnessed the arrest of Ressa. The NBI officers had slipped into the building by entering through the exclusive entrance for workers, evading the guards in the proper mall entrances.
“Apparently they cased the location, they’ve studied the layout. We’ve learned later on that they took the entrance exclusive to workers in the building. From the beginning, the intention is really to get in the Rappler office through improper procedures, and then as you’ve read in the news they came close to 5:00pm when the courts were about to close,” she said.
When asked if she believed that the arrest was politically-motivated, Go expressed that “to say otherwise would be blind or play ignorant to what has been happening and what the government has been doing to Rappler and other media organizations.”
Furthermore, The Benildean spoke to her about President Rodrigo Duterte denying his involvement in the attack to which she said that he created the environment for these attacks despite not being directly involved about it.
“When your president keeps attacking a media organization sa mga speeches niya, when the president makes it very clear that he has no respect whatsoever for freedom of expression, he has no regard for democratic processes and institution, what is the message that the other government officials and prosecutors would get ‘di ba?” she said.
“If you want to push back or if you just want to retreat into silence, retreating into silence might be the convenient thing to do now for individuals, for your convenience for your security and safety. But in the long run, if every individual would be retreating into silence, you’ll have a society thats not fighting for anybody, or anything anymore,” Go emphasized.
According to Angelo Herrera, the Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA) organizer, the event was motivated by the call of Br. Armin Luistro FSC and Vice President of LaSallian Mission Fritzie De Vera to the Benildean and Lasallian community to take action in the defense of press freedom and democracy, and to be guided by a faith-based education approach in testifying as to what has happened.
