Philippine President-elect Duterte draws flak for comments on media killings

Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte caused a social media storm on Wednesday when he trivialized media killings in the country by saying that journalists are paid hacks and resort to irresponsible reporting.

"It's not because you're a journalist you're exempted from assassination if you're a son of a bitch," Duterte told a press conference in Davao City Tuesday night, adding that journalists get killed because they take bribes and takes sides or excessively attack people.

A crime reporter was shot dead in Manila last week, becoming the 176th journalist slain in the line of duty since 1986 and the 34th under the watch of President Benigno Aquino III.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said at the Presidential Palace in a statement Wednesday "We deplore the proposition that some journalists may have been assaulted or killed in view of their alleged involvement in media corruption."

Coloma added "It is the duty of the government to arrest, prosecute and punish those responsible for violence against members of the media."

"We recognize the vital role played by journalists as purveyors of information in a democratic society. As citizens, they have a fundamental right to due process and equal protection of the laws of the land," Coloma's statement read.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said in a statement "It is appalling that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should justify the murder of journalists in the country by playing the corruption card."

The union said that while corruption can be a possible cause of media violence, "it is a totally different thing to present this as a justification for taking life."

"Murder is no joke. Neither is press freedom," the union said, adding that Duterte's 'crass pronouncement not only sullies the names and memories of all 176 of our colleagues who have been murdered since 1986."

The union said Duterte "has also, in effect, declared open season to silence the media, both individual journalists and the institution, on the mere perception of corruption."

Lawyer Romel Bagares, executive director of non-governmental organization Center for International Law, said Duterte's statement "only serves to justify and perpetuate impunity."

"In a country that has become one of the most dangerous places on earth for journalists, it will only serve to embolden, rather than deter, those who kill without compunction," Bagares said. Endit