MEDIA’S WELFARE. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar during the media engagement in Baguio City on Friday (Dec. 20) urged practitioners to support the media welfare and security bill pending before Congress. He said once passed, it will address the general welfare of the journalists, the economic vulnerability in the sector, address the issues on housing, job security, medical benefits, (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY-- Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Friday urged media practitioners in Baguio to support the media security and welfare bill pending before the Congress this year.
“How do we move forward? Gather together and be on one page. If we can make a councilor, vice mayor, mayor, President win, why can't we win for ourselves,” he said during the media engagement here.
The draft bill has been submitted by the PCOO and the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS).
Andanar said the proposal if passed into law, will look into the general welfare of the media practitioners, the economic vulnerability of those in the sector and address the issues on housing, regular employment, job security, health benefits, and medicare.
He said under the Duterte administration, several measures for the welfare of media practitioners and workers have been initiated.
Andanar said some members of the media are the economically vulnerable as many of them are block timers who get sponsors to run their program and they get mixed up in the politics of their sponsors with their enemies or competitors.
“Yung mga kabaro ho natin sa mga ibang lugar, probinsiya, napaka taas ng economic vulnerability, sila ay nagiging block timer, pag nag blocktime, kukuha ng sponsor, more often, politiko po yung sponsor. Uutusan sila ng politiko na tirahin, magagalit, mabi-bwisit [sa kanila], dun nagsisimula. Kung di madaan sa usapan, eh bala ang katapat (Our colleagues in the provinces have a high economic vulnerability. They become blocktimers, they get sponsors who are more often politicians and that politician will order them to hit another. Such will be the cause a person will get mad at the journalist and if they cannot be talked into a negotiation, then they will get a bullet),” Andanar said.
He said the PTFoMS, led by Undersecretary Joel Egco, was created by President Rodrigo Duterte to look after the welfare of every media practitioner in the country and go after the criminals who have assassinated or killed media workers.
Since its formation, it had been actively monitoring the case of the Maguindanao massacre which led to the killing of 57 people including 32 media practitioners on Nov. 23, 2009.
Andanar said the task force had been coordinating with the families of the victims, monitoring the development of the case.
“On the second anniversary of the massacre under President Duterte, he invited the families of the victims and promised them that he will do everything to finally resolve the case,"
On Thursday, the trial court handling the Maguindanao massacre case gave a guilty verdict on most of the accused after 10 years.
“Ang sinasabi ng critics natin napakabagal pero at least kahapon may closure na kahit papaano. Sinasabi ng mga kritiko natin na walang pagrespeto sa human rights ang administrasyong Duterte, pero kita niyo naman, after 10 years na hinihintay natin ang hustisya sa 57 na pinaslang, nangyari sa administrasyon ng Pangulong Duterte (Our critics have been saying justice is taking so long but yesterday, we finally had closure. Critics claim that this administration does not respect human rights but it is now, during the Duterte administration that justice was given to the 57 who were killed)," Andanar said. (PNA)
