But until now, no one has been prosecuted, and killings and threats against the country’s journalists are becoming more and more common, making it one of the worst places for journalists in the world.
The cold-blooded murders on November 23, 2009 were allegedly ordered by a political warlord in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao – the 32 journalists were in convoy to cover the registration of a candidate opposed to a local political clan.
The journalists were among 58 women and men flagged down by armed men believed to be the Ampatuan warlord’s private soldiers. All of them were killed.
“Two years after the gruesome crime, 103 of the 196 suspects remain at large and only two of the principal suspects have been arraigned. The case remains snagged on hearings on petitions for bail of the accused,” the National Union of Journalists of the
The case has been delayed on legal technicalities, which some say are in fact a sign of the
Despite having a new government administration, media killings keep on rising.
Since Benigno Aquino III became president in 2010, at least five Filipino journalists have been killed.
Aquino himself has the injustice of his country’s culture of impunity; there has been no proescution of the masterminds responsible for the 1983 assassination of his father, a journalist and politician.
Rowena Paraan, secretary-general of the union of journalists, said 146 journalists have been killed in the
Out of these killings, there have been only 10 succesful court
convictions, and even then only the hired guns have been jailed. The masterminds have escaped scot-free.
At present, there are at least 15 cases related to media killings going through the courts, including the infamous massacre in Maguindanao province.
Paraan said the lack of competence and resources of investigating agencies and the weaknesses in the institutions that are supposed to protect the people, such as the police, courts, and congress, have created the culture of impunity.
Today, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is observing the first International Day against Impunity.
In a statement, the IFJ said they chosen November 23 to commemorate the martyrdom of people who gave their lives in the name of press freedom.
“The IFJ is committed to making this anniversary a day to remember all journalists killed because they believed in the purpose and mission of journalism, to raise awareness about the scandal of impunity and the failure of governments to bring the killers to justice and to pledge to do more to find ways of making journalism safer,” it said in a statement.
“This global event provides us with an opportunity to denounce the prevailing culture of impunity for crime committed against journalists in many countries of the world and call for its end,” it added. (By Darwin Wee. This article is first published on the Economic Observer)
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