Statement of PCOO Sec.
Andanar on Maria Ressa's opinion piece at The Los Angeles Times
We have
read Maria Ressa's 25 September 2019 opinion piece at The Los Angeles Times,
entitled "Opinion: Americans, look to the Philippines to see a dystopian
future created by social media."
It is
tragic that Ms. Ressa remains out of touch with the political realities on the
ground as she continues to insinuate that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte won
through lies and fake propaganda as she claims that “lies laced with anger and
hate began to systematically tear our democracy apart in the Philippines,” and
that “Like a virus, this disease spread fast. With the help of social media,
President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in May 2016.”
The
President won fair and square and trashed his nearest political rival with the
largest electoral margin in Philippine history. Simply put, the CEO of Rappler
refuses to accept that the President is what the people truly wanted and needed.
The people hoped for an action man who can bring positive change to their lives
and the Filipino people got what they wanted and truly wanted. His style of
governance, albeit unorthodox, resonates with the people. This is not democracy
being torn apart but rather democracy naturally playing out.
The
results speak for themselves. Three years into President Duterte’s term, he
maintained a high satisfaction rating where 80% of Filipinos are satisfied with
his performance, and 85% approve of and trust the President according to two
independent pollsters, notwithstanding all the black propaganda and loud
political noise waged against the President and his Administration.
To
debunk the "destruction of democracy" (in the words of Ms. Ressa), a
non-commissioned survey conducted in the third quarter of 2018, disclosed that
84% of Filipinos are satisfied with the way democracy works in the country.
Ironically, the latter was even reported by Ms. Ressa's own news website.
Again,
Ms. Ressa continues to cite the baseless number of “27,000” drug addicts that
were allegedly killed, which is actually the total homicide cases including
cases not related to the drug war. Sticking to the hard facts that came from
our law enforcement agencies, the number of unfortunate deaths from legitimate
police operations are only 5,526.
The
government reiterates that this anti-illegal drug campaign is backed by the
public. In the second quarter, 82% of adult Filipinos are satisfied with this
campaign according to another Social Weather Stations survey.
Moreover,
the government assures that it does not employ “disinformation tactics."
This is not the policy and the practice of the Duterte administration. Our
office at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) is at the forefront
to combat disinformation not only to clear out matters that concern the
government but also to empower individuals to be responsible and vigilant
consumers of media, especially in the digital space, through our “Dismiss
Disinformation” campaign and other of our many programs.
The
allegations of Ms. Ressa that activists and news organizations face “top-down
persecution by the government” are baseless and absurd. In fact, despite
hurling criticisms against news organizations that carry fake news about his
administration, the Chief Executive still signed his very first administrative
order as Chief Executive creating an inter-agency body tasked to protect
members of the press. The President also recently signed Republic Act 11458,
which expands the coverage of exemptions from revealing the source of published
news or information obtained in confidence.
Nevertheless,
the Duterte government makes sure that justice is served, regardless of any
political leaning. It is not the policy and practice of the current government
to “harass” dissenters, as we only present our side of the story. The national
government will keep on telling the truth, and we remain confident the people
themselves will tell President Duterte’s true legacy. (PCOO)
