The Philippine Sportswriters Association is alarmed by the way access to coverage was used recently as a backhanded form of censorship, and is concerned about its impact on members of the free press.
The move by the Philippine National volleyball Federation and its president, Ramon “Tats” Suzara, to revoke the credentials of Spin.ph for the coverage of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship, has galvanized the PSA into strengthening protection of its members from any form of unwarranted pressure and harassment on the way they perform their duties.
The PSA has decided to adopt preventive measures so issuance and revocation of credentials will no longer be a consequence of honest, hard-nosed, and impartial reporting. That the credentials were restored is not enough to stay these measures, as we have deemed the damage already done.
Let us be clear: the very fact that the press was barred — however briefly and inconsequentially — is unacceptable. And while we are grateful for the efforts made to restore the credentials of Spin.ph, we feel that these efforts should have been needless in the first place.
Henceforth, any official or organization who withholds or forfeits a PSA member’s standard access to any coverage for the sole reason of critical reporting without prior notice and due process will be declared persona non grata.
To ensure that this measure will not be subject to misuse, the PSA will:
—Police its ranks and provide proper guidance to its members on the attributes of fair and impartial reporting.
—Create a committee that will handle dialogues between officials/athletes/organizations and PSA members so that due process can be applied in any case that will merit revocation of credentials.
Censorship does not always arrive as a law or as an organizational rule. Sometimes it comes as a locked gate, a revoked pass, an inquiring voice told, with a hint of repercussions, that it cannot ask.
That is prior restraint, and it strikes at the very heart of a free press. Even if the PNVF’s attack on the free press has been undone, the chilling effect lingers—a whispered warning to journalists that the next critical article will result in non-access.
In our Republic, the press is not an optional adjunct; it is a constitutional pillar. Article III, Section 4 says: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
That section was framed in a manner that even the combined legislative capacity of both chambers of Congress and the vast executive powers of the President are not enough to legislate censorship in any form.
It stands to reason that neither sports officials nor organizations can. We pass this measure with a single conviction: The PSA, as a representative of the country’s free press, cannot—and will not—accept being silenced, not even temporarily.
A single act of suppression, left unchallenged, risks becoming practice in the future.
Today’s exception can become tomorrow’s rule. We ask not for favor, but for fairness. We ask not for permission to speak, but for protection of our speech. W
e ask not that our journalists be met with warm welcomes, but that they not be warned off. And we will end with this vow: We will move forward ready to cover the games with the same vigor, fairness, respect, responsibility, and passion we always bring. But we will never stand idle when press freedom is threatened. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
