The National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) approved a special resolution urging president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. to create the Presidential Commission on Media Security to continue with a stronger mandate the functions of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS).
In a press release on May 27, NPC President Lydia Bueno said, “As one of the national media organizations actively engaged as media-partner and stakeholder of the task force since its creation by President Duterte in 2016, we have seen how effective the task force has been in fulfilling its mandate of giving protection to the life, liberty and safety of all media workers”.
“We believe its continuation under the Marcos administration would send the strong message to the world that it is just as committed, if not more, in upholding a free and responsible press that was started by the Duterte administration,” she added.
Under Special Resolution No. 1, series of 2022, the NPC noted that since the PTFoMS’ founding in 2016, journalists have depended on the task force as their direct line to the Office of the President for a swift response on journalists’ needs.
Bueno said despite the task force’s limited capacity as an ad-hoc body, it has significantly contributed to Philippine media, acting as the repository for documented cases of media-related violence in the country.
She also remarked that zero cases of media-related violence were recorded during the May 9 polls through the coordinated effort of PTFoMS, its media partners and related government offices.
Reworking the PTFoMS into a Presidential Commission would “broaden its power in effectively addressing all concerns related to the country’s media sector”.
Meanwhile, Publishers’ Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI) President Nelson Santos expressed confidence that Marcos, Jr. will “welcome this latest development in the journalism industry into his administration.”
Both the NPC and the PAPI have endorsed PTFoMS executive director Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco to head the proposed Presidential commission.
