Canadian Press Condemns Media Killings in Philippines

Initially signed by at least 30 journalists and other Filipino-Canadians, a statement is circulating in Canada calling on the Philippines’ Macapagal-Arroyo government to stop the killing of journalists and to conduct earnest investigations.

By Edwin C. Mercurio
Bulatlat

TORONTO, Canada – At least 30 journalists and other Filipino-Canadians have signed a statement calling on the Philippines’ Macapagal-Arroyo government to stop the killing of journalists and to conduct earnest investigations.

Aside from the Filipino-Canadian community, others who have signed are Canadian media practitioners such as reporters from CKLN and CBC, community leaders and other Canadians who signified their support to seek justice for journalists killed for doing their job.

The statement, which is now being circulated all over Canada for more signatories and will be sent to President Macapagal-Arroyo, was drafted in the wake of the spate of media killings in Philippines.

The statement came up following a forum on “How Free is the Philippine Press” held here last Feb. 13 at the Filipino Centre–Toronto (FCT). Filipino writer Ms. Ninotchka Rosca, who was the guest speaker at the forum, denounced the alarming rate of killings of Filipino journalists

The Philippines has earned the global reputation as the most dangerous country in the world for media practitioners - second only to war-torn Iraq, Ms. Rosca said.

“Journalists are killed with impunity in the Philippines,” said Ms. Rosca, a book author and journalist. “If you look at the rate by which media people are killed – over the 14 years of the Marcos regime, the rate was 2.5 per annum. Under Corazon Aquino, 5.6%. Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo the rate was 4.6% over the 2-3 years.”

Ms. Rosca had worked as a journalist in the Philippines before she was forced to go on exile to the United States during martial law,

Killings

More than 50 journalists have been murdered since 1986 after Marcos’ ouster – or over 100 including those who were killed during martial law. For the past 17 years killings of media people have continued at an average of three per year.

“Last year, 13 media practitioners were killed in the Philippines under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ranking the country the second highest in the world in terms of media killings, after war-torn Iraq,” Ms. Rosca said.

“Unlike Iraq where journalists are killed covering the war and field battles, most reporters killed in the Philippines are those from the rural areas writing about graft and corruption and human rights abuses,” Rosca said. “Nobody has been held accountable, prosecuted and charged for these killings. If the risk of speaking out freely is to die, then there is no democratic process.”

IFJ alarmed

The concern about the killing of journalists in the Philippines and other critical areas in the world also raised the alarm bells of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, said in a recent statement in the Philippine media that “the crisis of news safety has reached an intolerable level and must be addressed urgently.”

The January 2005 report of the recently concluded fact-finding mission organized by the International Federation of Journalists and the National Union of the Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has found that “a widespread culture of violence is tolerated and even condoned by Philippine government officials.”

Ms. Rosca, who has written for various Philippine, U.S. and international publications and who authored six books, one of these entitled “Twice Blessed” earned the 1993 American Book Award for Excellence in Literature said that whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, there are many factors that affect press freedom: media ownership, legal and physical threats to journalists and corruption.

Media ownership

Ms. Rosca said rich families and their cronies control most of the major newspapers.

“Structurally, the ownership of all these major newspapers (and broadcast media) is geared towards the ruling class of the Philippines. So ownership is the first restriction on press freedom. And if owners of a newspaper or publication happen to run counter to the dominant bias of the (ruling class) culture, then the owners are going to be in great trouble.”

Toronto’s Balita editor, Ruben Cusipag and Rosca herself were among the hundreds of writers and journalists critical of the Marcos dictatorship who were incarcerated in various detention centers during Martial law.

Corruption and manipulation of the media

On corruption in the media, Rosca explained that vested interest groups and individuals use money and other incentives in manipulating the generally low-paid media practitioners to serve the formers’ interests.

“You have ‘blood money’ which is given before a journalist does someone a favor. ‘Smiling money’ after the job is done. And then, there is AC/DC, attack and collect, defend and collect.”

“The average pay of journalists in the Philippines is P5,000, while the average apartment rent is eight thousand pesos P8,000,” Rosca explained.

Ms. Rosca also pointed out that there are alternative media organizations that she described as very independent and write about the real situation in the Philippines such as Bulatlat, a cooperative that publishes on the Internet and is generating an increasing readership globally.

The forum was organized by the Philippine Reporter, Balita Newspaper Managing Editor Tess Cusipag and the support of the Filipino Centre-Toronto (FCT) who made the venue available for the media event.

Media organizations represented at the forum were: The Philippine Reporter, Balita, Bulatlat, Filipino Bulletin, Front Page TV, Media Monitor, The Philippine Courier, CKLN Radio and Taliba. Bulatlat

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