Duterte & the media: grudge politics

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has grabbed headlines after the largest media company in the country was effectively shut down - in a political battle stretching back years. Graeme Acton reports.

Way back in 2016, Philippines broadcaster ABS-CBN made a decision not to air part of a political TV ad campaign supporting President Rodrigo Duterte’s bid for his current job.

For the huge network, it was business as usual, Duterte’s campaign team had missed the boat on booking the TV ads – which went to rival candidates.

As his political opponents will attest, Rodrigo Duterte doesn’t forget a slight, and holds a grudge for a long time.

ABS-CBN reported his rise to power, his sporadic outbursts regarding the role of the US in his country, his outrage over the expansion of China into the contested South China Sea, and crucially, his much-criticised “war on drugs”, which has now become the domestic cornerstone of his presidency.

Along the way the huge network built a reputation as a media company willing to challenge the President on his policies, and his actions.

But earlier this month the National Television Commission ordered the broadcaster to cease operations immediately, citing the end of the company’s long-standing broadcast franchise licence.  

The solicitor-general, José Calida, had earlier warned the commission not to grant the broadcaster any kind of temporary licence while Congress, which is dominated by Duterte’s allies, debated the company’s future.

Duterte himself had already declared the company was gone, along with its newsroom full of “sons of bitches” as he described them.

In a speech last December, he directly threatened the network, saying “ABS-CBN, your contract is about to expire. If I were you, you’re better off selling it - I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever.”.

Media freedom in the Philippines has declined drastically under Duterte, and the country now ranks 136th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders’  World Press Freedom Index. Violence against journalists is common, and at least sixty journalists have been killed in the country since 2005.

The high-profile news website Rappler, and its boss, Maria Ressa, have been another target of Duterte's wrath, again over his displeasure at their reporting on his policies. 

Ressa now faces charges including tax evasion and cyber-libel, which observers say are politically motivated.

She faces a considerable jail term if convicted, and Rappler has denied government allegations that the website is being controlled by an organisation outside of the Philippines. Press freedom organisations say the charges are designed to intimidate journalists across the country.

Speaking to RNZ’s “Saturday Morning” programme, Ressa told Kim Hill that while the President has come after her as a journalist, he also has the COVID-19 pandemic to deal with.

"Silver lining number one is the Duterte government has to deliver, it has to work. The very things that it used to gain and hold power are the very thing they must now work against - they can't lie; facts matter.

"The second one, to fight the pandemic you need an 'all of nation' approach. One of the tactics the Duterte administration has done is to divide and conquer, to demonise - us against them, to polarise which is built into the design of social media. Now they have to work, to unite society.

"I'm hoping they learn faster, because frankly, where they go, we go."

Ressa said being threatened has pushed Rappler to do some of the best investigative journalism of her career, despite her reporters being completely banned from covering any event involving the President.

ABS-CBN is much more than a news website though, it’s the most popular TV network in the country and a place where a majority of Filipinos get their news. It is top of the pile by almost any measure, with more than 11,000 employees, and dozens of radio and TV stations across the country.

ABS-CBN, like every other media company, has been heavily involved in covering the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the country, where the death toll stands somewhere around 800 but where almost as many people have been arrested for violating lockdown laws as have been tested for the virus.

True to form perhaps, President Duterte has taken the opportunity presented by COVID-19 to strengthen his grip on the country. The “war on drugs” has killed by some estimates around 30,000 people, and while COVID deaths are nowhere near that figure, the President has already targeted those seen to be defying his plans.

In the last few months the army has been given orders to kill anyone threatening security forces' lives, and the military is now holding almost total control over the effort to defeat the virus, including decisions about who gets what resources, a process being controlled by a panel of current and ex-generals.

ABS-CBN has now appealed to the country’s Supreme Court to lift the “cease operations” order from Parliament.

- Asia Media Centre