CEGP-NIR CONDEMNS ARREST OF NEGROS JOURNALIST, CITES CONTINUING ATTACKS ON PRESS

The College Editors Guild of the Philippines–Negros Island Region (CEGP-NIR) condemned the arrest of veteran Negros-based journalist Marchel Espina, describing it as another attack on press freedom and a misuse of legal processes against media practitioners.

Espina, former editor-in-chief of SunStar Cebu and SunStar Bacolod, was ordered arrested by a Batangas court along with four others over an alleged case of unjust vexation linked to an opinion article published in December 2024.

According to CEGP-NIR, Espina was never formally notified of the complaint and only learned of the arrest warrant after it had already been issued. The group said the absence of a summons deprived her of the opportunity to submit a counter-affidavit and respond to the allegations before the court.

The organization described the case as part of a broader pattern of legal harassment against journalists, warning that the use of criminal complaints to target members of the press creates a chilling effect on independent reporting and undermines the public's right to information.

CEGP-NIR also noted that Espina's arrest follows several reported attacks on journalists in Negros this year, including the killings of a radio broadcaster and community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, as well as the filing of a similar unjust vexation case against another journalist.

The group further expressed concern over what it described as increasing threats against campus publications, citing censorship, intimidation, red-tagging, and a proposed Bacolod City ordinance that would require additional regulations for community immersion activities, including community reporting by student journalists.

CEGP-NIR called for the dismissal of the charges against Espina and her co-respondents, an end to legal harassment and other forms of attacks against journalists, the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, and the withdrawal of the proposed Bacolod ordinance.

"Journalism is not a crime. Holding power to account is not unjust vexation. Defending press freedom is indispensable to defending democracy itself," the organization said in its statement.