📷: Former Bayan Muna Congressman and current Bayan Muna National President Satur Ocampo
Former Bayan Muna Congressman and current Bayan Muna National President Satur Ocampo expressed full support for the 2025 Media Electoral Agenda presented today to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and various political parties during the “Midyang Responsable, Mapanuring Botante” forum held in Quezon City.
Ocampo, a veteran journalist and longtime press freedom advocate, said he “very much agrees” with the entire agenda, which includes calls to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act, end red-tagging, and pass legislation protecting human rights defenders and media workers.
“Bayan Muna supports the 2025 Media Electoral Agenda given to us this morning. We have fought for these and we will continue to fight for these when we return to Congress,” Ocampo said.
Ocampo emphasized that the struggle for press freedom and the protection of journalists is a core part of the democratic struggle in the Philippines. As a former political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship and a journalist since his college days at the Philippine College of Commerce and Lyceum of the Philippines, Ocampo said it was crucial for him to attend and lend his voice to the forum organized by the Philippine Press Institute and spearheaded by the Media Safety Movement.
“Ang kalayaan sa pamamahayag ay hindi lamang isyu ng media – ito ay isyu ng mamamayan. Kapag tinatarget ang media, tinatarget din ang katotohanan at karapatan ng bawat Pilipino,”Ocampo stressed.
Among the key demands of the agenda are the passage of a Freedom of Information (FOI) law, the decriminalization of libel, the passage of a Media Workers Welfare Act, and the institution of accountability mechanisms for perpetrators of media killings. The agenda also calls for a stop to the weaponization of “fake news” narratives to curtail civil liberties, and for justice to be served in gender-based attacks against women journalists.
“We must not allow the continued silencing of dissent and independent journalism under the guise of national security. The NTF-ELCAC has been used to systematically red-tag and endanger journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens. It must be abolished,”Ocampo said.
“Panahon na para ibasura ang Anti-Terror Law at iba pang mapanupil na batas. Dapat itaguyod natin ang batas na magtatanggol sa karapatang pantao, hindi ang lumalabag dito,” he added.
The 2025 Media Electoral Agenda was signed by 35 media organizations and civil society groups, along with nine respected media personalities. Comelec Chairperson Jorge Erwin Garcia and representatives from various political parties were present during the forum.
Ocampo concluded by reiterating Bayan Muna’s longstanding commitment to the people’s right to information, press freedom, and protection of journalists and human rights defenders.
“Bayan Muna has always stood with the press and with the people in defense of truth and justice. Our return to Congress will be a return of these urgent advocacies inside the halls of power,” he said.#
