The Marcos's Make A Comeback In The Philippines

 After the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in the mid 80's after several decades of dictatorial rule and the lotting of the Philippine treasury by the family you might conclude that political redemption wouldn't be possible.   Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is on the verge of becoming the next president of the Philippines with the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte  as his vice president. The presidency of Rodrigo Duterte has been nothing short of a human rights and free speech disaster.   It's been estimated that Duterte's war on drugs has cost the lives of 30,000 Filipinos along with the destruction of a free press.   ABS-CBN the most widely watched news channel was forced to close after the government refused to issue a new broadcast license over its criticism of the Duterte  government.  Marcos Jr. has fully embraced the attacks on the media and the war on drugs. 

Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of the late dictator, is set to become the Philippines’ next president after taking an unassailable lead in the election, signalling an extraordinary rehabilitation of one of the country’s most notorious political families.

With more than 70% of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr had more than 23.5m, far ahead of his closest rival, the current vice-president, Leni Robredo, a former human rights lawyer, who had 11.1m. The size of his lead means a comeback by his opponents is not possible.

Supporters dressed in red shirts, his campaign colour, gathered outside his camp’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday night, waving the flag of the Philippines as passing cars sounded their horns.

Authoritarian rule makes a comeback in the Philippines.  

How Countries Have Criminalized Journalism

As Donald Trump campaigned and ultimately won the election in 2016 he has used the trope of fake news in an effort to dismiss unfavourble broadcast or printed material.  Leaders of similar political persuasion to use this criticism enact laws which can be used by governments to suppress the media and free speech.

Malaysia and Singapore were the first to pass such laws as these governments have used the legal system in the past to quash political dissent which makes these laws a natural evolution of  or a continuance of need to quite critics. 

In The Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has had a long running animus with media outlets that have been critical of his war on drugs which has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings.  As a result of this Duterte has sought to shutdown these media outlets with the latest victims being the countries largest broadcaster ABS-CBN which had its franchise renewal denied following a vote by the Philippine congress which is controlled by Duterte's party. 

Authorities in Malaysia have arrested six journalists from Al Jazeera over program they contributed to which investigated the treatment of migrant workers in Malaysia during the recent coronavirus lockdown. What are they accused of?

Six journalists including five Australians are being interrogated by Malaysian authorities who have accused them of sedition and defamation after the broadcast of a documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19.

A week after the broadcast of the Al Jazeera English documentary in Malaysia, the journalists were ordered to attend the police station for questioning on Friday morning.

Malaysian police have told them they are being investigated for sedition, defamation and violation of the country’s Communications and Multimedia Act.

Officials have also issued a search notice for a migrant who was interviewed during the documentary, prompting concern that he may be retaliated against. Earlier this week, the immigration department urged the public to come forward with information about the man.

 

Philippines biggest TV network ABS-CBN loses franchise

Lawmakers in the Philippines have rejected the renewal of a license for the country's top broadcaster, ABS-CBN. The media group employs 11-thousand people, and has an audience of tens of millions of Filipinos. Activists call the move a political vendetta by lawmakers on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte. The network has clashed with the president, and will now be off the air indefinitely.

Rodrigo Duterte Like His Mentor Hates A Free Press

Action against ABS-CBN denounced as worst attack yet on press by Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte shares a common bond with Donald Trump they despise the free press.  Their efforts to control the media have resulted in banning's, threats of violence and revocation of broadcast licenses.  Why?  Stating the obvious, they're both immature, embrace authoritarian rule and have fragile egos incapable of dealing with criticism.

Recently Donald Trump banned CNN from its annual anchors lunch help prior to the State of the Union Speech.  Duterte has accused The Rappler  a Philippine online news site of being foreign owned which violates the constitution.  Its editor a Philippine citizen Maria Ressa has faced long list of legal charges.  The Rappler had its licence revoked in 2018 thanks to its critical reporting of Duterte's administration.

A petition filed with the country’s top court alleges that ABS-CBN violated a restriction imposed by the constitution on foreign ownership of mass media by allowing overseas investors to join the company.

“We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices by ABS-CBN,” the solicitor general, Jose Calida, said in a statement. “A franchise is a special privilege granted by the state, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our constitution and laws.”

Other media outlets closed ranks and rallied in support of ABS-CBN on Monday. “We stand with our colleagues at ABS-CBN and share the hope that they will weather this and come out even stronger,” the news website Rappler said in a statement. “The Duterte administration, through Calida, is resorting to legal gymnastics to push their own agenda of silencing critical media.”