Media Death Toll
Reaches 28 under PGMA
Baguio
reporters unite vs. killings
“When journalists are
killed one after another, it is certain that people from other sectors
have been killed already,” said Inday Espina-Varona, National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
By MILENA E. ROQUE
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY – “The
past few weeks were not marked with good news for working journalists like
us,” remarked media workers of Baguio and Benguet as they gathered Nov. 29
for the first local congress of the National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP). This, after the death toll of journalists under
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s watch reached 28.
“But we are not going
to stop with a single point of lamentation on how our situation has
become, because today is also an opportune time for us to talk about how
we are going to fight the injustices and how we are going to unite to live
to the ideals of press freedom,” said Desiree Caluza, reporter for the
Philippine Daily Inquirer and officer of the NUJP Baguio-Benguet chapter.
Worst year for Philippine media
2004 has so far been
the worst ever for Filipino journalists. Thirteen were killed during the
first 11 months of this year, totaling to 61 since Marcos’ overthrow in
1986.
The latest victim,
Allan Dizon, a photojournalist of The Freeman
and Banat News, died
from two gunshot wounds on Nov. 27 at the Cebu Medical Center. Witnesses
reported that Dizon was shot by an unidentified assailant at a public
place, the SM City Mall. He was the fourth to die in just a month,
preceded by Gene Boyd Lumawag of MindaNews in Jolo, Herson Hinolan
of Bombo Radyo in Kalibo, Aklan, and Stephen Umawis of the Guru
Community News Weekly
in Tabuk, Kalinga.
Umawis was abducted
Nov. 26, and found dead Dec. 1 by local residents in the premises of the
Tabuk Central School. His family barely recognized him, his face having
been severely mutilated and skull cracked.
With these killings,
the Philippines is dubbed the most dangerous place for journalists in the
world, second only to Iraq. This, however, was denied by Malacañang.
According to the NUJP, AFP Chief of Staff Efren Abu said that there is
press freedom in the country and that the murders are only “isolated
cases.”
Despite Malacañang’s
denials, the series of murders of journalists remains a disturbing trend
and international groups around the world have expressed their concern,
from the International Federation of Journalists to the UNESCO.
Not limited to the press
NUJP national
president Inday Espina-Varona said during the NUJP-BB Congress that the
attacks against the press do not exist in a vacuum – these attacks are in
the same context of the worsening human rights situation in the country.
“When journalists are
killed one after another, it is certain that people from other sectors
have been killed already,” Varona added.
The Integrated Bar of
the Philippines reported that 10 lawyers were killed this year, all of
them handling “very controversial cases involving very powerful
individuals.” An undetermined number of anti-corruption advocates in towns
and 14 human rights activists have likewise been reported killed this
year.
A lot of suspects
are, alarmingly, practicing and retired or absent-without-official-leave
law enforcers. With this, Varona said, we must admit the breakdown of law
and order in this country. As public servants, the media have become
target. This, the NUJP said, is the worst form of censorship.
International fact-finding mission
The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the global organization representing over
500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries, will send a delegation of
journalists and officials to the country in early January. The mission
will go to the most affected provinces and meet with senior government
officials to discuss the culture of impunity that appears to be
responsible for the rising death toll of journalists.
For their part, the
elected council of NUJP-BB resolved to exhaust all possible actions to
demand justice for their slain colleagues. They also plan to sign a
memorandum of agreement with the Philippine National Police this month to
ensure the safety of journalists and keep them from any form of
harassment. Nordis / Posted by Bulatlat
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