‘Grief and Rage in the Midst of Storm’

Media and Public Condemnation of Media Killings Pour

Thousands of journalists and supporters took to the streets in various parts of the country Nov. 17 to condemn the continued killings of media workers.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat

They barely saw the sunset because of an approaching storm but the more than 100 journalists who gathered during dusk of Nov. 17 along Roxas Blvd. in Manila did not mind. Carrying placards and streamers, they lighted 10 torches that represented the 10 Filipino journalists slain this year.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Philippine Center for Photojournalism (PCP) and Press Photographers of the Philippines (PPP), the protest initiators, dubbed it a “Sunset Protest” in honor of photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag who was the latest journalist killed when the protest was being planned. Lumawag’s last shot before being felled by his assassin was a magnificent view of Jolo’s sunset in southern Philippines.

The following day, unknown gunmen shot Aklan broadcaster Herson Hinolan, who died two days later, bringing the number to 10. Lumawag and Hinolan were also the 58^th and 59^th killed since 1986 when the Marcos dictatorship was toppled.

Sunset rites

Journalists who attended the protest wore black t-shirts and armbands with the words "Stop Killing Journalists!" Some came with placards with slogans like "Justice for Gene Boyd Lumawag! Justice for All!" and "Defend Press Freedom!"

When before they stood at the sides during protest rallies, journalists this time held the megaphone to denounce the killing of their colleagues. Among those who spoke were Manolet Agoncillo of PPP, Jimmy Domingo of PCP, Inday Espina-Varona of NUJP, Julie Alipala of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Mindanao Bureau, Arnell Ozeata of the Batangas News Association, Johnny Glorioso of NUJP-Lucena City, Benny Antiporda of Remate and a representative of the Union of Journalists of the Philippines chapter in the University of the Philippines (UJP-UP). 

Jose Favia of the Philippine Press Institute also expressed his solidarity. Jose Torres of ABS-CBN-News.com and NUJP hosted the activity.

Antiporda talked of the apathy of journalists. "Ang masama sa atin, kikilos lang tayo kung may namatay na," he said. "Tandaan nating may iba pang porma ng karahasan ang nararanasan ng marami sa atin sa iba't-ibang lugar."

The protesters chanted, "Mamamahayag ng mamamayan,'wag paslangin!." (Journalists of the people, do not kill them).

Also joining the protest were other groups such as the BNA and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP).

Earlier, a text protest circulated among Manila journalists: “Grief and rage in midst of storm: Join the NUJP in a creative protest against escalating attacks on press freedom… History shows attacks vs media r a precursor of onslaught vs civil liberties. Pls. pass!”

Public support

The Manila Bay protest was only one of the protest actions held simultaneously in various parts of the country.

Photo by Ace Alegre

Beneath the word “Katarungan” in front of the Justice Hall of Baguio City, a streamer condemns the escalating violence against media practitioners: “The attack on media people is an attack against press freedom and the public’s right to know.”

In a short program led by NUJP vice president and Baguio-based journalist Arthur Allad-iw, the NUJP-Baguio-Benguet chapter, together with Baguio’s other media groups, called on media workers to protect and organize their ranks against attacks on press freedom.

“We challenge the Arroyo administration to conduct speedy and impartial investigation on these cases,” said Allad-iw. He said such a situation is a manifestation of the breakdown of law in many parts of the country.

The day before, the Cordillera Photographers and Videographers Press Corps held a candle-lighting activity for Lumawag near the City Hall.

On Panay island, in the Visayas central region, radio listeners came out in force, standing three-deep on the sidewalks of Iloilo City, as a convoy of vehicles brought the remains Herson “Bombo Boy” Hinolan from Kalibo Aklan, for transfer to Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, across a narrow strait.

“People threw flowers. They held lighted candles. Many were crying. And they wore black,” said Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Nestor Burgos, island-wide coordinator and a director of the NUJP.

“It was very sad. But on this day, it felt great to be a journalist,” Burgos said, adding that more than 150 journalists from Aklan and the neighboring provinces of Antique and Capiz joined the protest action.

That scene was replicated in Bacolod, where another 100 journalists and 300 supporters held a rally at the city’s Freedom Park, then marched to the pier to fetch Hinolan’s remains.

In Davao, journalists rallied to protest the killing of Lumawag in Jolo. Journalists from Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Pagadian, Davao Sur and Davao del Norte, Tagum, Digos and Cotabato came to participate in the protest.

Muslims also came to show their solidarity with journalists. Yusuf Ledesma said even a flawed press is better than a silenced press.

While readers and listeners should be vigilant in criticizing media lapses and abuses, Ledesma said they should cry out when journalists are attacked due to their profession.

Meanwhile, reporters in Cebu wore black shirts in solidarity with their protesting colleagues. Lucena City-based journalists also put up a streamer condemning the killings but was prevented by the storm from gathering for a protest action.

Also, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, a former reporter and deskman, urged citizens to support “besieged journalists” as attacks against the profession often herald an onslaught against civil liberties.

“Every journalist killed is an attack against democracy,” Evardone said. “When the Press is cowed, citizens become more vulnerable to those who seek to control their communities by force,” he added.

‘Blow to democracy’

Lumawag, 26, and a fast-rising photojournalist, died from a single gunshot to the forehead as he was heading back to his Jolo hotel after shooting scenes of the southern Philippine island’s famed sunset.

According to the Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom, "the murder of a journalist carrying out his duty is the worst form of censorship."

Military officials have floated various theories for the attack on Lumawag, a second-generation photo-journalist, from an Abu Sayyaf initiation rite, to possible reprisal for a corruption story the photojournalist and Mindanews editor Carolyn Arguillas were pursuing.

Press groups angrily criticized the spate of attacks on local journalists and the government's reaction to the cases. No one has been convicted for any of the 59 deaths since 1986 despite the government's promises to pursue the cases, the NUJP said.

The journalists' union said that Manila's old tactic of creating task forces and offering generous rewards for information on the murders was not enough.

"In many instances, agents of the government (policemen, soldiers, etc.) are the prime suspects in these murders," the group said, warning that press freedom and democratic values were being undermined by the killings.

The union said it was "telling" that there had been no convictions in the killings, which the Arroyo government earlier said it had created a task force to investigate.

Attacks against journalists stepped up in 2003, with a record of seven deaths, tying the country with Colombia as that year’s most dangerous place for the practice of the media profession.

This year, only Iraq, a country torn by war, has had more journalists slain.

Various international media groups, including the International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have called the Philippine situation a “crisis.”

For the NUJP, this fact sends out a strong message: "In the Philippines, you can kill journalists with impunity.”

Meanwhile, across the country, the harassment and intimidation against journalists continue. Last week, soldiers allegedly harassed an ABS-CBN crew in Maguindanao. Also last week, NUJP Davao Chapter Chair Carmelito Francisco said a soldier allegedly threatened and harassed reporters and staff of dxSF in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur over the station's reportage of the alleged extortion activities of Cafgu members.

Eric Tenerife, a broadcaster of Progressive Channel cable television in Bacolod City, reported an attack on Nov. 13. Police said a gunman shot three times Tenerife’s car shortly after he and his family arrived home from an outing. Police recovered one slug from the driver’s seat, which Tenerife usually occupies.

Hinolan’s Bombo colleague, reporter Joven Anisco also received a threat following the attack on the station manager. The threat said he was next in line after Hinolan, who had recently accused some military officers of protecting illegal gambling and illegal logging syndicates.

Other recent targets of threats as gathered by NUJP include Bernildo “Neil” Orellana of dxRJ-Iligan City 9Rajah Broadcasting System), Achilles Zuño, Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent for General Santos City, Mhuck Gayeta, print and broadcast journalist in Batangas City, Manila print and broadcast journalist mat Vicencio, Maritoni Salvoro of DYWC-AM, a radio station in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, but owned by the Diocese of Dumaguete, Victor Camion, filed reporter of DYGB-FM, an affiliate of the Radio Mindanao network in Dumaguete City and editor of local tabloid Express Balita, and Nilo Baculo Sr., former genral manager DWIM, host of Isumbong mo kay Nilo and lately of dwAw, Batangas.

Libel has also been criminalized. Libel convictions have been handed down by the courts in several areas in the country this year, with some of the convicted journalists actually languishing in jail right now.

"In a democracy, nobody should be jailed for speaking out," said the NUJP. " Sadly, that is not quite true in the Philippines."

‘Crisis situation’

The Philippine Star newspaper, in its editorial on Tuesday, said the killings of journalists, especially in the countryside, where political warlords were active, were a "major threat to press freedom."

The IFJ warned that 2004 may turn out to be the worst year on record for killings of journalists and media staff as news of the deaths of reporters in the Philippines, Nicaragua and the Ivory Coast shocked the world of journalism.

Three killings of journalists in separate instances on three continents has brought the death toll of media employees in 2004 to more than 100 - already higher than for last year and more than 30 more than 2002.

“2004 is turning out to be one of the most bloody years on record,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “The crisis of news safety has reached an intolerable level and must be addressed urgently.”

Roby Alampay, executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance expressed dismay and disgust at the latest killings, saying these showed the Philippine situation “has run out of control.”

“From the first killing of a Filipino journalist early this year, Philippine leaders have been assuring action and results,” Alampay said. “They’ve offered rewards, stronger laws, and swifter responses to counter the rash of assassinations. So far, however, all they’ve produced are evidence that they do not even know where to begin arresting the problem.” Bulatlat 

All photos by Aubrey Makilan unless otherwise indicated

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