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| Bobi Tiglao and Antonio P. Contreras, photo compiled from Google |
Ayon sa post ni Antonio, ipinahayag ni Bobi Tiglao na ang tatlong grupo ng media na naging napaka-kritikal para kay Pangulong Duterte ay nakatanggap ng mga pondo mula sa National Endowment for Democracy (NED) na inakusahan bilang isang “conduit” para sa CIA.
Ang mga media outfits na nakakakuha ng malaking halaga mula sa NED ay ang Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), ang Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), at Vera Files.
Narito ang kabuuang post ni Antonio P. Contreras sa kanyang Facebook account:
“Another big revelation!
Bobi Tiglao reveals that three media groups that have been very critical of President Duterte have received funds from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which has been accused of being a conduit for the CIA.
These are the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and Vera Files.
If true, how can these groups have the audacity to talk about human rights when they received funding from an agency that has a record of masterminding political events that led to human rights abuses all over the world?”
Narito naman ang ilang bahagi ng ipinahayag ni Bobi Tiglao sa site na The Manila Times:
“THE National Endowment For Democracy (NED), accused of being a channel for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) propaganda and destabilization operations in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, has stepped up its funding for three local media outfits that have been publishing articles in the Internet very critical of President Duterte and his administration.
These media outfits getting substantial amounts from NED are the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), and Vera Files.
NED documents show that for 2015—the earliest year for which data is available—2016 and 2017, it gave the PCIJ $106,900; Vera Files $70,000, and CMFR, $278,000. (Another funder of Vera Files is Reporters without Borders, which is also recipient of NED funds.)
Even if NED wasn’t a CIA conduit, it is an institution funded by the US government, and therefore advances US interests. Shouldn’t we be outraged that the US government is funding anti-Duterte media outfits here?
While these moneys may seem small, an NGO activist in Europe pointed out this was the same pattern in Ukraine several years back. The NED initially extended modest funds to Ukrainian opposition groups, and increased them substantially as the political crisis in that country broke out that led to the overthrow in 2014 of pro-Russia Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, to be replaced by pro-US leaders.
NED president Carl Gershman, who has been openly rabidly anti-Russian would boast after Yanukovych’s fall: “Ukraine is the biggest prize“. (Another US outfit that has funded NGOs in Ukraine that helped topple Yanukovych is Omidyar Network, owned by tycoon Pierre Omdiyar. It is one of the two foreign financiers of another anti-Duterte media outfit, Rappler.)”
Source: Antonio P. Contreras
