August 30 was declared National Press Freedom Day under Republic Act 11699 to honor the father of  Philippine journalism, Marcelo H. Del Pilar. 

Despite this Philippine government initiative, our press freedom is continuously under siege. The Philippines’ ranking in the World Press Freedom Index dropped this year, to nine places ending 147th among 180 countries. This is the fifth time that the country has dipped in ranking in the list by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In 2021, the country ranked 138th, 136th in 2020, 134th in 2019, and 133rd in 2018.

This year, FMA sees this second commemoration of the National Press Freedom Day as an opportunity to shine an unrelenting light on the state of press freedom in the country. At a time when the government exerts a monopoly on “truth”, the presence of a critical and independent press is all the more important. 

Read the full statement here. 

Why Press Freedom Matters to Women and Gender Development?
A free press is essential to the functioning of a fair, equal, and accountable society. The free speech of women and their consequent access to justice is, however, impeded when reporting is inaccurate, intrusive, and misrepresents the context of violence against women and girls. 

Read related articles: 

What we have gathered this month:
Reports of various forms of gender-based violence continued. How responsive are laws in the Philippines? Are there instances in which we need to rethink about how we deal with gender and ICT?

Press Freedom. Press freedom is an integral part of freedom of expression. 

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