Duterte’s statement assaults oath to uphold the law
“KILL CORRUPT JOURNALISTS”
“BUT for the President-elect to encourage murder as solution assaults the oath he took as a lawyer, as mayor, and soon as president of the country. And that oath is to uphold the law.”
This is the statement of the Cebu Citizen’s Press Council in reaction to the recent pronouncements of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte that corrupt journalists should be killed.
“From a political leader who won on a platform of killing criminals and crime suspects, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s statement about killing corrupt journalists should not shock us anymore. But it still does. Because it demolishes any hope the incoming president will abandon the gospel of death he preached in his campaign and adhere to the rule of law when he assumes office,” the statement signed by CCPC Executive Director Pachico A. Seares read.
The CCPC, a Cebu- based organization composed of media and non-media members, posted its statement on its website last Thursday.
It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-government organization that helps to protect press freedom, enhance the sense of accountability of journalists, and shape public opinion on media issues.
Seares said that while most journalists recognize that corruption is a “major ill plaguing the media industry,” to encourage murder as a solution is contrary to the oath of public officials to uphold the law.
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