Media unions from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Hong Kong have protested the closure of broadcast network ASB-CBN and called on the Duterte administration “to act swiftly to ensure that Congress renews the network’s license and restore ABS-CBN to the air.”
In their letters, addressed to the Philippine ambassadors and consul generals in their respective countries, the unions noted “that no satisfactory evidence has been presented for why the Congress has moved slowly to renew the ABS-CBN franchise.”
They also said President Rodrigo Duterte “has not only influenced the delays in the renewal process but has repeatedly threatened and censored the independent media network over the years.”
“These efforts to undermine the independent media and due process present a clear danger to media freedom and the public’s right to know,” they added.
The letters were from the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions and Free Media Movement in Sri Lanka, the National Union of Journalists (India), Hong Kong Journalists Association, and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, all affiliates of the International Federation of Journalists.
The IFJ is the largest federation of media unions in the world, representing more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries
IFJ Has sent word that these are just the first letters to Philippine ambassadors by its affiliates.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is an IFJ affiliate.
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