The Dutch government praised the Marcos administration for its dedication to providing a safe and free environment for the Philippine media.
The remark was made during a meeting on Friday where Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil told Dutch Human Rights Ambassador Bahia Tahzib Lie and Dutch Ambassador to the Philippines Marielle Geraedts about the Philippine government's commitment to preserving press freedom and making the country a safer place for journalists
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) released images of Garafil's meeting with Dutch officials on Facebook.
According to the PTFoMS, Garafil conveyed the administration's perspective on a variety of subjects concerning press freedom and the real media climate in the country to Lie and Geraedts.
Also present in the meeting are PTFoMs executive director Paul Gutierrez, PTFoMs chief of staff Jyro Go, PCO Assistant Secretary for Operations Evangeline de Leon, and PCO Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and International Media Affairs Michel Andre del Rosario.
In a separate statement, Gutierrez stated that the Marcos government is devoted to providing the Philippine press with a "safe and secure" environment.
This was his response to the 2023 assessment by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism which claimed that the Philippine media landscape is "largely grim."
Gutierrez refuted the "false report", claiming that the current administration maintains and protects media employees' rights.
