Bacolod City – Councilor Celia Matea Flor, chair of the Sanggunian Committee on Women, will schedule a committee hearing on a resolution she authored calling on media outlets operating in Bacolod City to formulate and adopt gender sensitivity and ethical protocols.
The resolution approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod recently is also calling on the media outlets to establish their respective committees on decorum and investigation (CODI) in the light of the recent incident of gender-based harassment in media spaces in compliance with the Safe Spaces Ordinance.
The resolution said Republic Act 11313 or the Safe Space Act penalizes gender-based sexual harassment committed in streets, public spaces, online spaces, and workspaces, and mandates institutions – including private organizations – to put in place mechanisms for prevention, reporting, and accountability, among its key requirements in the establishment of a CODI in all covered organizations to receive and resolve complaints of gender-based sexual harassment.
The media or the Fourth Estate occupies a position of public trust and bears a heightened responsibility not only in reporting the news but in modeling the values of respect, dignity and fairness that it is expected to advocate; the conduct of media practitioners – both on and offair- shape public attitudes, reinforces or challenges social norms, and directly impacts the communities they serve, it said.
A recent and widely reported incident involving a Bacolod City-based radio anchorman making a rape joke on a public platform has caused profound alarm, indignation, and harm — not only to victims and survivors of sexual violence, but to the entire Bacolod community; such conduct trivializes rape and sexual violence, perpetuates a culture of impunity and misogyny, and constitutes gender-based harassment in a media space in direct violation of the Safe Spaces Act and the ethical standards expected of media practitioners, the resolution said.
Despite the clear mandate of the Safe Spaces Act, many media organizations in Bacolod City have yet to establish functional Committees on Decorum and Investigation (CODIs) or formulate and enforce gender sensitivity and ethical protocols governing the conduct of their personnel, leaving victims of gender-based harassment within media spaces without adequate institutional recourse or protection, it said.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod, in the exercise of its legislative oversight and in aid of legislation, is empowered to inquire into the implementation of laws within Bacolod City and to call upon institutions to fulfill their legal obligations in order to protect the welfare of all Bacolodnons, especially the most vulnerable, the resolution said.
This Resolution is issued in the firm belief that a free and responsible press is essential to democracy, and that freedom of the press carries with it the duty to uphold the dignity of
every person, gender equality, and accountability in all media spaces within Bacolod City, it added. (Chrysee Semillano via tvds photo by bcg pio)