Journalist group say Duterte as petulant child after bans Rappler reporters from presidential palace

News24xx.com -  The President of the Philippines has ordered two journalists to be banned from entering the presidential palace, an act by a Filipino journalist rights group that described as a particularly egregious and undeserved act of a president.

Independent news website, Rappler reported on Tuesday, Februari 20, 2018 that Rodrigo Duterte directly ordered his president's security team to ban the CEO of the organization and one of his reporters covered events at the palace.

The report was later confirmed by PTV.

Rappler said the president made the decision after watching a hearing in the Senate, where his most trusted aide, Christopher Go, was questioned for his role in a questionable military contract.

This story was first reported by news sites.

Harry Roque, a spokeswoman for Duterte, said on Tuesday that the Rappler's reporter, Pia Ranada could continue to cover his daily briefings pending court decisions on the case of closing the news site.

The briefing is regularly held in another building next to the presidential palace.

Roque also accused Rappler of "editorialising" in news reports, an allegation the news outlet has denied.

In a statement on Tuesday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said that Duterte's "peevishness displays a sinister side of his persona that does not bode well at all for the already uncertain health and future of democracy in our benighted country"

"Duterte's belligerence no longer surprise us anymore, he has acted like a sulky child," NUJP said.

This is not the first time Duterte has clashed with Rappler, a news site launched in 2012 that the president has repeatedly criticized as a source of "fake news".

But Marites Vitug, editor of Rappler, said the order was another "setback" for the Philippines, which prides itself on having a "backward press" in Southeast Asia.

"This is a dangerous situation, showing that Duterte does not understand the role of the press in a democracy," Vitug said in a statement.

He said that Duterte "blatantly ignores press duties" by requiring reporters to bow to the existing powers.

"He has no concept of checks and balances, displaying his autocratic leadership."

In January, the president's securities and exchange agency ordered Rappler to be closed for allegedly violating regulations restricting foreign ownership of Filipino media.

While Duterte has refused to play a role in the decision, critics say that this is the president's way of trying to silence dissent.

Pending a court appeals, Rappler continues to operate from its headquarters in the capital Manila.

Duterte was also angry when Rappler published a report questioning the nationality of his first foreign affairs secretary. The top diplomat turned out to be a former American citizen and was forced to resign.

The news website has also published a series of reports that question Duterte's deadly war on illegal drugs and report on bank deposits worth millions of dollars.

However, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa is also one of the first journalists to interview Duterte in 2015 when he prepares to run for president in May 2016.

Since the publication of the critical news reports, however, Rappler has come under continued attack by Duterte's supporters online, Rappler got a follow-up attack by Duterte supporters online.

At various public events, Ressa said that she and her fellow journal Rappler have been repeatedly threatened with violence, including rape.

Inday Espina Varona, a journalist and political commentator, said there was "no legal reason" for the Duterte government to justify denial of Rappler's access to the palace.