THE Editorial Board of SunStar Cagayan de Oro stands with its reporter, PJ Orias, who happens to be the current chairperson of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Cagayan de Oro Chapter.
The people behind the Facebook page "Quiet No More" that dragged PJ's name, including Davao-based columnist, Margarita Valle, accusing them as "protectors" of the Communist of the Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army are not only libelous but also showed the lack of knowledge of these accusers of who PJ is.
We can vouch for PJ being impartial and true to her calling. A journalist writes what is happening on the ground without fear and favor. PJ even wrote stories about the military, police, and the government in general.
We already have informed not only NUJP but also the Presidential Task Force on Media Safety, hoping for productive results.
We are exhausting all legal avenues in order to correct this wrongful doing. As a media entity whose foundation is to report and give the public a balanced perspective of issues unfolding this society, these people's attempt to advance their agenda by red-tagging journalists and their organization is misplaced.
Should these people wish to end communist rebel's insurgencies, they should do so by targetting the actual rebels.
Red-tagging is not the answer, as such, the people behind this can never help to reduce the problem the government is facing.