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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY ADDITIONAL INSURANCE COVERAGE 
AND BENEFITS FOR JOURNALISTS, EMPLOYEES OF MEDIA ENTITIES 
ON FIELD ASSIGNMENT, AND FREELANCE JOURNALISTS, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippines is considered the oldest democracy in Asia.  Likewise, the 
Philippine press is lauded to be “extremely vibrant.”1  The watchdog function of the 
media or “the Fourth Estate,” is one of the most essential elements of a working 
democracy, ensuring transparency, public information, another layer of checks and 
balances on government, among others. 
But the Marcos dictatorship along with the tyrannical regimes such as Duterte’s 
and even today’s period of rising authoritarianism, reveal the dangers of having the 
media muzzled.  However, the Philippines is consistently among the top countries most 
lethal to members of the media thirty years after the Marcos dictatorship. 
The Philippines is the seventh deadliest country for journalists, with 13 unsolved 
media murders within a span of ten years, according to the 2021 Global Impunity Index 
of New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).  Majority of those killed 
1 2022 press freedom index. Reporters sans frontieres, 2022. https://rsf.org/en/country/philippines. 
August 1, 2022
10:22 am
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were covering politics, corruption, and crime.  Only a handful of cases have been 
resolved, and partially, at that.2 
Another global journalist rights monitor, Reporters sans frontieres (RSF, 
Reporters Without Borders), also censured the Philippines for putting up a bleak 
politico-legal climate, where red-tagging, criminal libel, and various forms of attacks 
against media and media workers are rife—a climate where “impunity for these crimes 
is almost total.”  In RSF’s 2022 press freedom index, the Philippines ranked 147th out 
of 180 countries, sliding several notches below last year’s ranking. 
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) recorded 195 media 
workers killed since April 1986 in the line of duty or in retaliation for their work.  This 
includes the single bloodiest attack against journalists and media workers, the 2009 
Maguindanao Massacre, which is still unsolved up to this day.  A total of 31 journalists 
were killed by the end of Aquino administration, and at least 23 journalists including 
15 radio personalities were killed under the Duterte administration, according to the 
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).3 
These numbers do not include acts of intimidation, harassment, threats, and other 
attacks under the systematic campaign of targeting the press, such as the closure of 
ABS-CBN and the cyberattacks against online media.  Red-tagging—that vile tool of 
the State to silence any critique and any critic, and a precursor to extrajudicial killings, 
trumped-up charges, and other rights violations—is also used against reporters and 
media workers. 
It is in this context of continuing killings of journalists and other workers in the 
media, and the worsening impunity accompanying these attacks, that this bill seeks 
additional insurance coverage and benefits for media practitioners and their families.  A 
commitment to protect the media and to ensure their independence includes the passage 
of laws that will answer their and their families’ urgent needs, while awaiting the 
resolution of their cases, should they fall or be hurt in the line of duty. 
This bill was first filed in the 15th Congress by Reps. Teddy A. Casiño, Neri 
Javier Colmenares, Rafael V. Mariano, Luzviminda C. Ilagan, Raymond V. Palatino, 
Emerenciana A. De Jesus, and Antonio L. Tinio of the Makabayang Koalisyon ng 
Mamamayan or Makabayan.  Refiled in the 16th up to 18th Congresses, this bill is now 
being refiled in the hopes of somehow shining a light on the dark and deadly path that 
journalists tread.   
2 Dunham, Jeniffer. “Killers of journalists still get away with murder.” Committee to Protect 
Journalists, 28 October 2021. https://cpj.org/reports/2021/10/killers-of-journalists-still-get-away-with-
murder/.  
3 “WATCH | The State of Media Freedom in the Philippines 2022: Journalism under siege.” 
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 3 May 2022. https://pcij.org/blog/3333/watch-the-
state-of-media-freedom-in-the-philippines-2022-journalism-under-siege.  


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For these reasons, passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
________________________________ 
Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO 
ACT Teachers Party-List 
________________________________ 
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS 
GABRIELA Women’s Party 
________________________________ 
Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
KABATAAN Party-List 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY ADDITIONAL INSURANCE COVERAGE 
AND BENEFITS FOR JOURNALISTS, EMPLOYEES OF MEDIA ENTITIES 
ON FIELD ASSIGNMENT, AND FREELANCE JOURNALISTS, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Journalists’ Insurance 
Act of 2022.” 
SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. – For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall 
mean: 
1. Media entities refer to all companies in the print and broadcast media
(newspapers, radio, television, and online) that are involved in the dissemination
of news and information for public consumption and are duly accredited by any 
reputable association of media persons such as, but not limited to the Office of 
the Press Secretary-Philippine Information Agency (OPS-PIA), National Press 
Club (NPC), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Kapisanan 
ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Philippine Press Institute, Foreign 
Correspondents of the Philippines (FOCAP), Photojournalists Center of the 
Philippines (PCP), and the People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya), 
as among the entities duly registered with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC) or any other government agency; 
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2. Editorial and/or News Department refers to editors-in-chief, news editors, 
columnists, deskpersons, reporters, correspondents, and photographers on the 
part 
of 
the 
print 
media; 
and 
news 
editors, 
newscasters, 
commentators/announcers, field reporters, field correspondents and cameramen, 
video/audio editors, producers, researchers, and others who are part of news 
gathering, production, and dissemination on the part of the broadcast media; 
 
3. Frontline media persons refer to those directly involved in data-gathering from 
the field and news reporting whether in print, in television, or on radio, such as 
but not limited to, print reporters, camera operators, photojournalists, radio 
reporters, and television reporters; 
 
4. Journalists refers to members of the Editorial and/or News Department including 
front-line media persons; and 
 
5. Freelance Journalists refers to persons who pursue journalism as a profession 
without a long-term commitment to any one media entity. 
 
SEC. 3. Mandatory Additional Insurance Benefits for Journalists and Employees of 
Media Entities on Field Assignments. – In addition to the existing insurance benefits 
given to journalists and employees of media entities on field assignment by the Social 
Security System (SSS) as provided for under Republic Act 8282, and by the 
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) under Republic Act 8291, and subject to 
Section 5 of this Act, there shall be an additional insurance coverage to be provided by 
for-profit media entities to journalists and their employees on field assignments and 
frontline media persons which shall include, in the minimum: 
 
1. Death Benefits of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱500,000.00) for all mass media 
practitioners and employees on field assignment who shall perish in the line of 
duty; 
 
2. Disability benefits of up to Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱200,000.00) for all 
mass media practitioners who shall suffer total or partial disability, whether 
permanent or temporary, arising from any injury sustained in the line of duty; 
and 
 
3. Reimbursement of actual medical expenses up to but not to exceed One Hundred 
Thousand Pesos (₱100,000.00) for all mass media practitioners and employees 
on field assignment who shall be hospitalized or who shall require medical 
attendance for injuries sustained while in the line of duty. 
 
 
 
The media entity shall pay for the premium of the insurance policy and shall 
have the option to get the insurance company to enrol its qualified 
journalists/employees. 
 


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SEC. 4. Coverage. – This Act shall apply to all permanent, temporary, contractual and 
casual journalists employed by all existing media entities in the Philippines and 
freelance journalists. 
 
SEC. 5. Insurance for Freelance Journalists and Non-Profit Media Entities. – The 
OPS-PIA, NPC, NUJP, Altermidya, and KBP shall offer opportunities for freelance 
journalists to secure additional insurance coverage before working on war zones or 
dangerous areas.  Non-profit media entities may opt to grant their employees the 
benefits under the preceding Sections: Provided, That they shall secure limited policies 
for their journalists and frontline media persons prior to dangerous deployments. 
 
SEC. 6. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts shall be prohibited: 
 
1. Refusal by a for-profit media entity to provide additional insurance coverage 
referred to in Section 3 of this Act; 
 
2. Refusal by an insurance company to enroll journalists, employees of media 
entities on field assignment and freelance journalists on account of the nature of 
their work; and 
 
3. Non-compliance with the rules and regulations that the GSIS, SSS, IC, and OPS-
PIA shall adopt for the implementation of this Act.   
 
SEC. 7. Penal Provision. – Any person who shall willfully commit any of the 
prohibited acts enumerated under this Act shall upon conviction, be punished by a fine 
of not less than Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱200,000.00) but not more than Five 
Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱500,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than one (1) year 
but not more than six (6) years or both such fine and imprisonment depending upon the 
discretion of the court.  
 
 
 
In the case of associations, partnerships or corporations, the penalty shall be 
imposed on the partner, president, chief operating officer, chief executive officer, 
directors or officers responsible for the violation, and cancellation of registration with 
the SEC. 
 
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The GSIS, SSS, IC, and OPS-PIA, 
and in consultation with the NPC, NUJP, KBP, and other duly registered media 
associations, shall promulgate and issue the rules and regulations necessary to 
implement the provisions of this Act. 
 
SEC. 9. Separability Clause. – If for any reason any provision or section of this Act is 
declared unconstitutional or invalid, such portions not affected thereby shall remain in 
full force and effect. 
 
SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 


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SEC. 11. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,