The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines demands that the Cagayan de Oro police investigate and track down those responsible for delivering funeral wreaths to the ABS-CBN station there on Saturday evening, July 25.

The wreaths bore ribbons that linked the calls to return ABS-CBN on-air to the communist insurgency and red-tagged several organizations including us.

It shouldn’t be too hard for the Cagayan de Oro police to crack this case if they put their hearts and minds into it since the wreaths were delivered by the florist contracted to make them.

We will even provide them with a possible clue: This incident appears to follow the lead of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, or NTF-ELCAC, that earlier linked the campaign to call for the return of ABS-CBN to the communist insurgency, a claim that, like its other accusations against legal personalities and organizations, it has never backed up with proof.

We also call on the Cagayan de Oro City government to ensure the safety not only of our colleagues but also of all other persons and organizations that have constantly been targeted for red-tagging. Mayor Oscar Moreno will surely remember our earlier appeal to him to keep the media in his city safe following the reg-tagging of the officers and members of our chapter there.

We stand with our colleagues and friends in the Cagayan de Oro media community. To those who seek to intimidate them and stifle freedom of the press: You will never succeed.

National Directorate
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