‘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
58th and 59th 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
FILIPINO
JOURNALISTS KILLED IN 2004 |
Name |
News
Organization |
Date Killed |
1.
Ruel Endrinal |
DZRC/Legazpi City |
Feb. 11, 2004 |
2.
Eliseo “Ely” Binoya |
Radyo Natin/General Santos City |
June 17, 2004 |
3.
Roger Mariano |
DZJC-Aksyon Radio/ Laoag |
July 31, 2004 |
4.
Arnnel Manalo |
DZRH/Bulgar/Batangas |
Aug. 5, 2004 |
5.
Jonathan Abayon |
RGMA Superadyo/ General Santos City |
Aug. 8, 2004 |
6.
Fernando Consignado |
Radio Veritas / Laguna |
Aug. 12, 2004 |
7.
Romy Binungcal |
Remate / Bataan |
Sept. 29, 2004 |
8.
Eldy Gabinales (Eldy Sablas) |
DXJR-FM / Tandag, Surigao del Sur |
Oct. 19, 2004 |
9.
Gene Boyd Lumawag |
MindaNews / Davao City |
Nov. 12, 2004 |
10. Herson Hinolan |
DYIN Bombo Radyo-Kalibo |
Nov. 13, 2004 |
All photos by Aubrey Makilan unless otherwise indicated
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