Tag Archives: impunity

Justice Now! (UP CMC official statement)

N.B. – This is the official statement of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, as approved by its College Executive Board (CEB).

PRESS STATEMENT
22 November 2019

Justice Now!

As justice remains elusive for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre, our call is short and simple: Justice Now!

Ten years after the murder of 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers on November 23, 2009, not one of the nearly 200 accused has been convicted. After presenting more than 250 witnesses with the case records reaching around 240 volumes, it still remains doubtful when justice will be finally achieved for the victims and their loved ones.

The government needs to be reminded that the whole world is watching, and the situation is both disappointing and disconcerting. The culture of impunity that informs Philippine society remains, as evidenced by the continuing killings of journalists and other forms of harassment and intimidation as a result of doing their job.

Indeed, our quest for justice goes beyond the Ampatuan massacre given the dismal state of the Philippine media.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte is an enabler of such impunity, given his vile attacks against selected news media organizations. In his 2017 state of the nation address (SONA), he found nothing wrong in accusing Rappler, Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN of being either foreign-owned or biased against government. And who can ever forget his statement in May 2016, a month before assuming the presidency, that there are some journalists who deserved to die? The list is endless as he continues to curse and catcall his way into harassing and intimidating some journalists, especially the women.

While the establishment of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) in 2016 was initially considered an effort to protect journalists and media workers, this agency’s silence as the President belittles press freedom and freedom of expression through his actions is, again, both disappointing and disconcerting. Three years after its establishment, the PTFoMS is now reduced to a presidential apologist as it refuses to publicly hold the President to account for his actions against the media.

The Ampatuan massacre is glaring evidence of how impunity reigns in the country. But let us not lose sight of the continuing harassment and intimidation of the Philippine press. The government can conveniently argue that the press remains vibrant given the sheer number of news media organizations that allegedly enjoy the basic freedoms of the land, and that there are only two or three that are crying foul over what has befallen them.

The government, again, needs to be reminded that the state of the Philippine media is not a numbers game, and that the lessons of Martial Law from 1972 to 1986 would show that the so-called mosquito press may be fewer in number but the persecution that some news media organizations went through was more than enough to paint a dark picture of tyrannical rule during that time.

The Duterte administration should stop harassing and intimidating the media and consequently create an environment conducive to the practice of journalism. Only then can it salvage its place in history, and only then can justice be finally achieved, for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre and beyond. #