It's high time that Filipino journalists be held to account for the damage they are causing!

Senator Gringo Honasan posted this. Rafael Alunan posted this.

I think a lot of people will agree with them. It is high time Philippine journalists are held to account. They have been hiding behind “democracy”, “human rights”, and “freedom of speech” to excuse their incompetence, maliciousness, and lack of accountability for too long.

The damage they are causing with their partisan reporting has reached treasonous levels. Their haphazardly prepared “kill lists” and exaggerated stories about extra-judicial killings are jeopardizing the Philippines’ reputation abroad and hampering the ability of our police to carry out their duties. Their constant and deliberate misrepresentation of President Duterte’s statements is endangering diplomatic ties with other countries.

Some years ago, the British parliament conducted an inquiry on the illegal and unethical practices of the UK’s top newspaper, the News of the World. The findings of the investigation forced the newspaper to close down, and members of its editorial staff were charged in court. The inquiry was widely supported by the British public who were fed up with the dirty tricks of the British press.

(Some might argue that the News of the World was a tabloid. But so is the yellow rag known as the Philippine Daily Inquirer. They don’t even bother to hide it anymore.)

We need a similar inquiry done here by the House or Senate. Our legislators should not be afraid to take action against irresponsible journalists, because millions of Filipinos are sick and tired of their abuses and want to see them punished. The only ones who will defend these warped journalists are other warped journalists and the people who benefit from their lies.

Everyday, these hacks extra-judicially murder billions of Filipino brain cells in a kind of intellectual genocide with every kilobyte of rubbish they churn out. They commit economic sabotage with every potential investment lost because they keep portraying our country like a killing field. True, we can always tune them out if we don’t want to hear what they’re saying, but in the internet age, their lies can spread around the world in a matter of seconds and threaten our country’s welfare. They need to be brought to justice. These arrogant, self-righteous “defenders of democracy” are nothing more than terrorists and criminals with press passes.

What makes them think they are so special that they should be above the law? If doctors, lawyers, and accountants can be sued for malpractice and sent to jail, so can journalists. Journalists don’t even have board-certified skills. They rank low on the point system for immigration to first world countries because, for all the noise they make, they contribute little to society and policymakers know this.

We don’t need rabid, irrational, mis-educated, and unethical journalists to defend our freedom of speech. We already have the internet and social media for that. Sue them and send them to jail. No one will miss them. We’re not in the 70’s anymore.

(I refer here specifically to malicious journalists, not the few good ones left who have integrity.)

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