Pilipino Press

In 2024 and 2025 World Press studies rated the Philippines as dangerous for media based on the number of newspersons killed yearly. That is one angle. I believe our press is one of the most free and liveliest in the world. Rappler’s Ressa posted many items in social media. She was charged, convicted and on appeal was acquitted by Philippine Courts leading to her being the first Asian news woman to win a Nobel Prize. Last July 2025, the Hong Kong courts convicted a Hong Kong newspaper publisher/editor for violating its internal security law. In Singapore, the press cannot make articles in social media platforms, TV, radios, newspaper criticizing the government directly or indirectly even through satire/innuendoes.

The history of the Philippine Press is different from the press in other Asian nations. We became an American colony in 1898 and 48 years later, became a republic in 1946. We, together with Cuba and Puerto Rico, were the first colonies America ever had. European colonialists (U.K., France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal) dealt with their colonies in Africa, South America, India, Pakistan, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Macau with strong iron grip so the colonies will not revolt/get independence. Thus, the native government of the European colonies did not have most of the rights of the citizens of their white colonial masters from the 15th to the 19th centuries when they were colonized.

These basic rights were local free elections, free speech, free press, freedoms to peaceably assemble for redress of grievances, independent courts, habeas corpus. When U.S. colonized us in 1898, they gave us all the rights Americans enjoyed under their Constitution at once, the same rights the European colonialist did not give to Africa, South America, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. from the 15th century until 1946, (400 or more years) when the colonies revolted led by Indonesia versus the Dutch, India Malaysia versus UK. All Asian nations had to fight to get these basic human rights, free election, free press, free speech, peaceably assemble to complain about govt abuses/mismanagement/corruption, etc. The Philippines got all these basic rights from America for free. In 1932, the U.S. Tydings McDuffie law guaranteed that we in 10 years will be given independence. US kept its promise. In 1946, we became independent. Philippine press copied U.S. media including U.S. supreme court decisions on freedom of speech and of press.

The rest of Asia (India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, etc.) did not taste, enjoy, experience the American Press freedom culture and tradition unlike the Philippine press which had it since 1898 (except from 1972 to 1986). Asian media compared to Philippine Press is still timid, conservative, very very touchy/careful in reporting government abuses, corruption, incompetence, neglect. Asian press learned about world standards of free speech and press freedom only in the late 40s and early 50s when they became independent. When the eyes of the Asia Press were opened in the 40s onward, we Filipinos were already wide awake since 1898. We had a 50-year head start in Press Freedom.