MANILA: Filipino journalists are facing a backlash at home after joining Israel-sponsored press trips, with the main trade union saying that participation in such media tours may amount to complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine.
The Israeli government has organized several media junkets for journalists from the Philippines over the years, including during its genocidal attacks and siege of the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Nineteen Filipino journalists are taking part in such a trip this month, according to a Facebook post by the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines, which shared their arrival photo on Friday.
The tour has sparked controversy among press organizations, with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines urging its members and fellow media workers to drop such invitations.
“Accepting sponsored trips from those accused of committing genocide is downright unethical,” the union said in a statement, adding that the exercise is “designed to bury the truth and whitewash” Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
“We know that people also make mistakes, but we want them to be more discerning accepting offers of trips,” Rosalyn Olea, secretary-general of the NUJP, told Arab News.
“Participation in such trips could be interpreted as complicity.”
On social media, Filipinos are demanding the disclosure of the names of participating journalists and their media outlets, amid calls for their boycott.
While some of the trip’s participants contacted by Arab News declined to comment, one of them, Redempto Anda, editor-in-chief of Palawan News, argued that he has always been independent.
“I see no conflict of interest in accepting the travel invitation,” he said. “I’m not really bothered by criticisms on socmed (social media) about the Israel visit.”
Both the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and the Filipino Freelance Journalists Guild called on their members to reject any offers from Israel.
And to stand in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues who have been assassinated by Israeli forces in what has been recognized as the deadliest attacks on journalists in recorded history.
More than 270 journalists have been killed by Israel’s military in Gaza since the beginning of the attacks in October 2023, according to data from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
“Many of us freelancers rely on grants from different organizations and governments. But we draw the line when it comes to something like this, especially when it involved a state actor that is actively carrying out what the UN has described as genocide,” said Chantal Eco, chairperson of the Filipino Freelance Journalists Guild.
“Many of the journalists being killed are freelancers like us.”
