NUJP calls for accountability as cops allegedly harass reporter

MANILA, Philippines — The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned what it described as “use of violence” against a reporter of the alternative media outlet Bulatlat, who was present in the farmers-led protest in Quezon City on Monday, Oct. 19.

Identified by the NUJP as Ernest Cruz, the reporter was one of the media workers who covered the protest that was held at the central office of the Department of Agrarian Reform, but the police “use[d] force in an attempt to restrain [him].”

The NUJP said a campus journalist from the Far Eastern University and Tudla correspondent, identified as Robie Matias, was also wounded after he was “caught in the middle of a standoff between protesters and police.”

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“How many more journalists must be harassed or hurt before the police are held accountable,” it said, pointing out that the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s own Revised Media Relations Policy recognizes the importance of media in upholding the public’s right to information.

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“This is not the first time the PNP has resorted to violence in dealing with members of the media,” the NUJP stressed, citing incidents on Sept. 21 last year and on July 22 this year.

It explained in a statement that in the October 2025 agreement between the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, the use of force against media workers is explicitly prohibited, and mechanisms are in place to investigate complaints against police personnel.

The NUJP reminded the PNP and the Napolcom of their commitments in the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which calls on states and relevant institutions to protect journalists and ensure that they can work freely and safely.

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“We demand that these safeguards be applied in Cruz’s case, that the officers involved be held accountable, and that the PNP ensure journalists can cover protests without fear of violence or obstruction,” it said.

It also called on the Commission on Human Rights to launch investigations into this incident and help hold press freedom violators accountable, saying “police should stop harassing journalists.”

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The protest, Kabataan Rep. Renee Co said, took a new dimension this year “as the Marcos Jr. government is forcibly displacing farmers and indigenous peoples to make way for Pax Silica in time for US President Donald Trump’s arrival this November 2026.”

“Not only will these marginalized groups lose their land and livelihoods, the water and irrigation systems of Tarlac, as well as the power and electricity supply of Luzon, are predicted to be harmfully disrupted,” she said. /das