Task force taps cops for media security, stresses not all journo killings work-related

In this file photo, journalists light candles to mark the anniversary of the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre, which has been called the worst ever attack on journalists.

Philstar.com, file

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Task Force on Media Security is readying guidelines to designate police officers as "focal persons for media security" but said Tuesday that that not all attacks on journalists are work-related, claiming that media killings are being used "to humiliate our country and our government."

Speaking before Philippine National Police public information personnel, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Joel Egco, PTFoMS executive director, said that the police will be tapped as "media security vanguards" and the "first line of defense" for journalists.

Of the 190 killings of media workers it recorded around the country, PTFoMS said that 55 were determined to not be work-related.  In a presentation, the task force said that journalists in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are the "most vulnerable" to attacks, accounting for 33 cases.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/01/19/2154943/task-force-taps-cops-media-security-stresses-not-all-journo-killings-work-related