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I'd like to share my thoughts regarding an article titled 'Is A Free Press Duterte's Next Victim?', which appeared in the Opinion section of your newspaper on January 18. First, let me just say that from what I have observed, I have never read a New York Times article about the goodness of our Philippine president. Since Duterte took office, it seemed like all news reports are created to put him in a bad light. Take for example the case against the online news site Rappler. Recently, the Philippine government has announced revoking of the company's licence. The article strongly suggested that Duterte should be condemned because what he has done was a clear violation of press freedom and human rights. Duterte didn't lock down Rappler, as a matter of fact, its newsmen continue to report anti-Duterte news and even attended a Malacanang press conference yesterday, January 22. And the fact is, the issue is not really about curtailment of press freedom but more of penalising a company that is operating under foreign ownership. Apparently, Rappler has been operating for a long time under an American firm. This means that Rappler has long been violating the Philippine Constitution. This means that Rappler has long been attacking the Duterte government using foreign money. It is no secret that Rappler people are Duterte's critics because they support the previous government and the elites who want to hold on to power. Let's go back to the 'cracking down of press freedom'sentiments. As far as I know, despite the attack against the Duterte government, no media company has been prevented from exercising free speech. The problem with Rappler is that not only it illegaly operates due to its foreign ownership, the news site has long been abusing what they call 'freedom of speech'. There's a big difference between being critical and downright nasty, and Rappler has clearly demonstrated its nastiness. True, freedom of speech is a privilege in a democratic state, but Rappler has extremely overused and abused it in the guise of press freedom.
Ms MistyPH
