MANILA, Oct. 15 – The Palace is creating the Presidential task force it claims to protect the life, liberty and security of media practitioners in the country.
This according to Communications Secretary Martin Andanar as he confirmed the promulgation of the order in a media briefing on Thursday.
The Administrative Order No. 1, according to Andanar, confirms the government is looking after the members of media seen as constantly facing death threats and acts of violence.
The order which was signed October 11 put to task the new group of conducting an inventory of all cases of violence against media workers from the first 30 days from its creation.
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Upon completion of the inventory, special teams under the group will start its investigation of unsolved high profile cases which include the controversial and heinous Maguindanao massacre that happened during a different administration.
The order also creates a special oversight team of investigator and prosecutors specifically to monitor the progress of the cases.
Member of the oversight team will include the Interior and Local Government Secretary, Defense Secretary, the Solicitor General, the Executive Director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, the Philippine National Police director-general, and the director of the National Bureau of Investigation.
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At the same time, the Presidential Task Force shall also invite the following as observers and resource persons:
Relegated to the role of observers will include the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Ombudsman, and the heads of the the National Press Club (NPC), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Kapisanan ng mg Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI), and the Philippine Press Institute (PPI).
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