“It is bad enough that the firings come at a time when Philippine journalism needs all hands on deck as it comes under increasing pressure from vindictive and intolerant government and fends off a growing wave of populist disinformation, official or otherwise, while media workers face worsening threats, old and emerging,” the NUJP said.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Nearly a hundred regular employees of CNN Philippines were terminated by management, Jan. 11 due to “right sizing.”
In its letter to affected employees, CNN Philippines management declared the positions as redundant. The company claimed that streamlining the organizational structure aims to achieve higher efficiency and productivity.
In September 2015, CNN Philippines also laid off 70 of its employees reportedly for the same reason.
In separate statements, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Talents Association of GMA (TAG) expressed solidarity with the CNN employees.
TAG cited the illegal dismissal and unfair labor practices experienced by contractual workers in GMA, ABS-CBN and TV5 and the termination of PTV veteran journalists without basis.
TAG called on the media stakeholders and legislators to address the issues of faced by the media workers such as contractualization, no security of tenure, lack of benefits, among others.
The NUJP urged media owners and managements “not to throw away the heart and soul of an industry that has in no small way helped preserve and advance democracy in the country by making available to our people the information they need to come to educated decisions about their individual and collective futures.”
“It is bad enough that the firings come at a time when Philippine journalism needs all hands on deck as it comes under increasing pressure from vindictive and intolerant government and fends off a growing wave of populist disinformation, official or otherwise, while media workers face worsening threats, old and emerging,” the NUJP said.
The NUJP called on all journalists to organize themselves to protect their rights as media workers while continuing to remain devoted to the tenets of their profession. 
