PHILIPPINES

Country Summary

The level of press freedom in the Philippines, like the character of the press itself, varied widely by locale. Manila, the capital, has a flourishing press with approximately 25 daily newspapers, and reporters there operate in an environment largely free from government interference. In rural areas outside Manila, however, where radio is the dominant medium because of an undeveloped infrastructure and high illiteracy rate, the military, powerful local families who maintain feudal-like control of the areas, large corporations, and the government subjected reporters to serious abuses. Working conditions for journalists were particularly grim in the southern island of Mindanao, where the Muslim separatist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has been waging a violent struggle for autonomy.

The MNLF signed a peace agreement with the government in September, but the accord has yet to be implemented and fighting continues. Reporters are often caught between the interests of Muslim separatists, Christian groups opposed to an independent Muslim state, and government forces. Ferdinand Reyes, who frequently wrote about official corruption and human rights abuses in the Philippines, was shot and killed at his office in Dipolog, Mindanao. Two local reporters, Ali Macabalang and Nash Maulana, were shot in Cotabato, Mindanao, while traveling in a jeep near Macabalang’s home.

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