It has been said, and rightly so, that the first freedom we lose in an emerging authoritarianism is freedom of speech and, concomitantly, of the press. Tyrants and dictators naturally want to suppress opposition to their rule, and they do this by starting with the media which has the greatest means of reaching and influencing a huge number of people.
President Duterte’s regime is showing a disturbing pattern of suppressing opposition to his rule, reminiscent of martial law. What is most uncanny about this is that there is no formal declaration of martial law which prevents a legal challenge before the courts, yet the actions of his regime through the police and military show unmistakable signs of a veritable martial rule.
The first casualty is of course Senator Leila De Lima, who has been a very vocal critic of Duterte even before the latter started campaigning for president. One could very well say that the moment De Lima opened her mouth to criticize Duterte, she placed herself on Duterte’s crosshairs. Four years later De Lima is still languishing in jail and virtually forgotten; her voice muffled by the confining walls of prison.
The next is online news media Rappler. Its corporate registration was revoked in 2018 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly violating the constitutional prohibition on ownership and management of mass media. Although there are admittedly foreign investors in Rappler, they do not have voting rights and say in the management and operation of the news media, which are the bases of the constitutional prohibition. Of course, Rappler has been critical of Duterte in its reporting which made it a prime target of the administration.
Then came former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno. Sereno raised the ire of Duterte when she started questioning the legality of his anti-drug war, particularly the publication of alleged drug coddlers in the judiciary. In a stunning legal maneuver unheard of in the annals of local and international jurisprudence, Duterte through his trusted legal mind, Solicitor General Jose Calida, successfully unseated Sereno from the judiciary via a quo warranto petition in clear violation of the constitutional process of impeachment.
As the leading voice behind Rappler, its co-founder and executive editor Maria Ressa suffered a similar fate when she was recently convicted of cyberlibel with a Rappler reporter in a factually and legally questionable court decision. Ressa has been known for her active coverage of Duterte’s bloody drug war and was instrumental in uncovering the underreporting of official death counts of those extrajudicially killed. Her no-nonsense reporting has earned a backlash from many Duterte supporters and received a barrage of death threats, aside from the slew of cases the Duterte administration threw at her from tax evasion to libel.
Another vocal critic against whom Duterte has unleashed a barrage of attacks is former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. During his last term as senator, Trillanes has proven a pain in the a#^ of Duterte; as senator he challenged and criticized the efficacy and legality of Duterte’s drug war. He even implicated Duterte’s son for involvement in the illicit drug trade.
To silence Trillanes, he was arrested for his participation in military coups in the past, although he has already been given amnesty for such offenses. Several cases have also been filed against Trillanes, from libel to sedition, which are all pending in court. Duterte even attacked Trillanes’s PMA record and parents. God only knows what else is in store for Trillanes; one thing is for sure, Duterte will not stop until he gets Trillanes for as long as he remains in power.
The most recent and prominent casualty is ABS-CBN, one of the biggest news organizations in the country, which was forced to shutdown after several years of operation with the non-renewal of its franchise. Since 2018, Duterte has publicly made known his displeasure with the news organization and vows not to have its franchise renewed, although he later disavowed participation in its shutdown.
ABS-CBN’s biggest sin is its airing of a campaign ad attacking Duterte’s manners and worthiness for public office during the presidential campaign and to make matters worse, it was paid for by Trillanes, one of his most vocal and loathed critics. Then ABS-CBN dug its grave when it failed to air Duterte’s rebuttal campaign ad.
Pro-administration congressmen threw everything they can against ABS-CBN to prevent the renewal of its franchise: from tax evasion, labor law violations, illegal foreign investment to foreign citizenship of its major owner. Although none of these have been proven, Congress still decided to shutdown the media company, without regard to the thousands of workers who will lose their jobs at a time when the pandemic has already deprived thousands of their livelihood.
Then we have the unbridled predisposition of the police and military in trying to silence critics of the president and his administration. Recently, new Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay expressed his intention of regulating the contents of social media platforms, which in plain words means censorship. Also, there have been several instances of the authorities summoning or even criminally charging individuals for posting on social media criticism of government’s action on the coronavirus problem.
Supporters of Duterte are arguing that if freedom of the press is being suppressed then why do other newspapers and media outlets continue to publish or air? The fact that other media outlets continue to operate does not necessarily mean freedom of speech and of the press is not under attack, for it only means that these media organizations have not raised the ire of those in power or have yet to get their turn. Inquirer watch out.
One thing is becoming certain under the present administration, severe criticism of Duterte and his administration is being viewed as unpatriotic and subversive. Remember how Duterte reacted when several doctors and nurses’ organizations called on the government for tighter anti-coronavirus measures after they pointed out the government is failing to control the virus due to the spike in infections? Duterte insinuated they wanted a revolution and even dared them to push for a revolution in the country so they will see how brutal he can be.
Authoritarianism has a sneaky way of taking root, growing, and spreading. It does not happen in one fell swoop. It starts with the gradual erosion of fundamental rights under the guise of law and order, until one day we wake up in shackles under a garrison state.