Media Development Global News Today

PTFoMS Executive Director Joel M. Sy Egco (File photo) MANILA - As the frontline government agency dedicated to protect media workers, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) through its Executive Director, Undersecretary Joel M. Sy Egco, thanked the men and women of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their invaluable contribution to the peaceful national and local elections and for ensuring the safety of journalists. "I am very happy to say that no journalist or broadc...

By: Atty. Perry Solis Press freedom is alive and well in the Philippines despite the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) release of its annual World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) putting the country in an unenviable position of no. 147 under what it called a new methodology, down from 138 last year. According to RSF's website, the low ranking of the country was due to many factors, foremost of which is media killings, especially the Ampatuan Massacre that happened more than a decade ago in 2009. As...

(PNA file photo) MANILA-Despite the new methodology used in this year's World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released on May 4, 2022, the Philippine press remains freer and "extremely vibrant" under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte compared to the previous administrations of former Presidents Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino Jr. and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. "Even with the new method used by the Paris-based RSF in determining each nation's r...

MANILA-In observance of World Press Freedom Day, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) went all out of its mandate to protect media workers by meeting with local journalists in several key regions all over the country to discuss ways and means to promote media safety. Undersecretary Joel M. Sy Egco, Executive Director of PTFoMS, said the task force held several and sometimes simultaneous consultative meetings with local journalists in various regions in the past week for the pro...

(PNA file photo) MANILA-As the leading agency in safeguarding press freedom, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) through its Executive Director, Undersecretary Joel M. Sy Egco, thanked President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for signing the much-awaited law declaring August 30 as the country's "National Press Freedom Day". "All our hard work and efforts have paid off. As a veteran journalist myself, I have worked together with our media friends such as the Katipunan n...

Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security(middle) (PNA photo by Avito Dalan) MANILA - Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), lauded the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the arrest of Datu Harris Ampatuan in Cotabato City, one of the suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre. "I commend the men and women from the PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (...

From 4-6 April 2022, UNESCO conducted a three-day online training for the Philippine National Police (PNP) on upholding international standards on freedom of expression and safety of journalists, ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in May 20

MANILA - Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), met with representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) led by Mohamed Djelid, Director and Representative of UNESCO Office in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss possible cooperation on capacity building projects on human rights during a courtesy visit in Malacanang, Manila on March 25. Egco presented the accomplishments of PTFoMS since...

Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) (File photo) MANILA - Malacanang has strongly condemned the killing of Audrey Gaid Estrada, a news anchor for 101.3 Grace Covenant FM, who was stabbed to death inside her home in Poblacion Bacolod, Lanao del Norte on Thursday morning. "The government condemns in the strongest possible terms the killing of radio broadcaster Audrey Estrada, Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco, Executive...

Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director, Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco (File photo) MANILA - The Philippines has taken "positive steps" in protecting journalists, according to the 2021-2022 "World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report" released recently by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In a statement Thursday, Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presid...