WATCH. While waiting for the release of Lumad teacher Chad Booc, police allow other media outlets inside the PRO-7 except Rappler, calling us a fake news outlet.
Rappler has extensively covered the Lumad arrests, reaching out to police for comments on updates.@rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/ns8kMsiFfr
— Lorraine Ecarma (@lorraineecarma) May 14, 2021
Lorraine Ecarma, a correspondent of Rappler’s Cebu bureau, was prohibited by the police from covering the release of Lumad teacher Chad Booc from detention inside the headquarters of the Philippine National Police Central Visayas on Friday, May 14.
While other local news outlets in the area were allowed to cover, Ecarma was banned from entering the headquarters and tagged Rappler as a “fake news” outlet.
Non-uniformed police personnel also told Ecarma and other members of different human rights groups in the area to stop filming the incident for “security purposes.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines reminds our police that interrogating the official narrative does not make a news organization or journalist “fake news.”
NUJP also reminds state forces that filming and documenting are vital parts of the job of journalists as legitimate sources of information and that documenting public events is neither illegal nor a security risk.