P5-M Press Freedom Fund launched

President Arroyo set up yesterday a P5-million "Press Freedom Fund" to help solve the murders of journalists in the country.

She described the killings of journalists as "frightening" and vowed that the government would leave no stone unturned in tracking down the "cold-blooded killers" of media personalities.

In her speech during the launching of the fund at Malacañang, the President said while the killings must immediately be stopped, there should also be efforts to arrest the "growing culture of violence" in the country.

"The attacks against our journalists are frightening and must be stopped. These acts of wanton violence against men and women who form the very foundation of a free press and open society are acts of violence against the nation itself," said Mrs. Arroyo.

"The Philippines cannot stand proud as a nation if we let cowards cut down defenders of democracy," she said.

The President said authorities are gaining ground in their investigations of the mounting numbers of cases, and the entire criminal justice system has been "alerted and put in motion" while local government units are taking "a vigilant stand beside civil society."

She said journalism is a noble profession that deals in truth and justice in order to improve the society and country. Some 24 journalists have been killed in the last two years and five months alone.

To jump-start the fund, which will be used to pay for information leading to the arrest of murderers of journalists, Mrs. Arroyo put up P3 million from her office’s Social Fund while Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. donated P2 million. Mrs. Arroyo said she hopes more leaders and institutions would also chip in.

The Press Freedom Fund was formally launched along with the signing of a memorandum of agreement on the effective utilization of the fund.

Those who signed the agreement were De Venecia, Juan Dayang of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Antonio Antonio of the National Press Club, Inday Espina-Varona of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), and the Philippine Press Institute’s Jose Pavia, who represented the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists.

Others present during the launch of the fund were NUJP’s Jose Torres, Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, PNP Senior Superintendent Pedro Tango of the Task Force Newsman, and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

After the launch, the President met with the family of Midland Review columnist Marlene Esperat, who was gunned down last March in her home in Sultan Kudarat. Police strongly suspect that the mastermind is a government official who was a subject of one of the victim’s articles on corruption.

De Venecia said he initially contributed P200,000 from his personal money and the P2 million came from his congressional allocations, despite the "much, much reduced" pork barrel fund allowance.

"I would be delighted to draw against whatever public works entitlements that would be allocated to us next year, to continue to augment the (fund) until such time that all killers are (brought) to justice and press freedom in the country is unhampered," he said.

De Venecia said the killings have given the Philippines yet another bad image before the international community.

"But never mind this bad image, the most important thing is, we must do something about the killings because the perpetrators feel that they can get away with it… the perpetrators feel that nothing will happen in any case," he said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said P1 million of the Press Freedom Fund would be used to finance a "quick reaction team" of policemen and investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should another journalist be killed. Another P1 million will be used to assist the victims’ families, including scholarships for the slain journalists’ children.

The Department of Justice will be given P1 million from the fund to augment its Witness Protection Program, while the Philippine National Police (PNP) will administer P2 million of the fund in order to buy information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects in the killings of journalists.

Gonzalez said the perpetrators of the killings appear to have been emboldened by the "climate of violence" sweeping the country.

He said the President gave him the green light to go after "big shots" in government – even as high up as a Cabinet official, believed to be behind Esperat’s murder.

"I was given marching orders by the President to proceed against anybody involved, but there should be no witch hunt," Gonzalez said.

He added that the Esperat family’s lawyers told Mrs. Arroyo the people behind Esperat’s murder were among those charged with graft by the slain journalist.

"I am convinced that the case did not stop with the four suspects already charged in court," Gonzalez said. The Department of Justice is investigating Osmena Montaner, finance division chief of the Department of Agriculture in Tacurong City, Central Mindanao; her staff Estrella Sabay; Estanislao Vismanos Jr., the alleged lookout; and Gerry Cabayag, the alleged gunman.

Mrs. Arroyo also proposed that a separate to handle the murders of journalists, according to Gonzalez.

Tango said the reward offer could significantly boost his unit’s information gathering in the cases. He called on witnesses and informants to come forward and help in the investigations.

"Give us the evidence, (and) we will prosecute whoever is behind these killings, whether police, military or high government official," he said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has called the Philippines the "most dangerous" country in the world for those working in the media, noting there have been 18 killings of reporters since January 2000. The Philippines even surpassed war-torn Iraq, drug cartel-ravaged Colombia, Russia and Bangladesh.

Philip Agustin, the publisher-editor of a community newspaper in northeastern Luzon, was shot dead last week at his house — making him the fifth Filipino journalist to be killed this year. At least four other journalists have survived attacks.

Mrs. Arroyo said the fund would be used to buy information to apprehend killers of reporters, protect witnesses to ensure prosecution of suspects, and provide financial aid for children of slain journalists.

While Varona thanked Malacañang for "finally acknowledging the crisis that faces the media profession" in the Philippines, she said the fund is not the solution to the country’s press freedom crisis.

"It is the human factor — political will — that will spell the difference," she said.

With the fund, Varona said the government could now provide better protection for the witnesses to journalists’ killings.

"Witnesses, for one, need immediate protection. Too many of those who risk their lives and livelihood to bear witness to the truth have found themselves under fire. Some have actually been killed," she said.

Varona also said the NUJP welcomes the administration’s show of unity in setting up the fund.

"We hope it will continue and that the message gets to the provinces, cities and municipalities. This can only happen if the national government gets its act together and speaks with one voice," she said.

Varona noted that the murder of journalists and the abject condition of Philippine media "does not exist in a vacuum. What happens to our sector is a reflection of the state of the nation."

She pointed out that many of the 68 journalists killed since 1986 were believed killed by powerful, rich individuals and groups involved in crime and corruption. Twenty-four people in the media were killed in the last two years and five months alone.

"These groups are not just enemies of press freedom; they are enemies of the Filipino people," she said, adding that these people "will not hesitate from using their wealth and political power to block our efforts to seek justice for slain colleagues. They continue to murder and harass because they have gotten away with it, because they have learned it pays to commit crime to hide their original crimes."

NUJP secretary general Carlos Conde said various media organizations have been working closely these past years not only to protest the murders of journalists, but also to address the main problems that bedevil Philippine journalism.

He said that among these problems are fear borne of physical attacks and other attempts to harass and intimidate journalists; corruption and other ethical issues; and the poverty of so many media practitioners.

This condition, "makes it difficult to improve professional skills, makes so many vulnerable to conflict of interest situations and makes it harder for them to withstand efforts to silence the press," Conde said.

NUJP officials insisted that the government should not engage in double-talk when discussing crimes against journalists.

"Ambivalence only encourages those who seek to silence the press. You cannot say one day that media is a friend of democracy and then brand them the following day as enemies of the state, Varona and Conde said.

They also said the government "cannot make statements vowing to hunt down the killers of journalists and then turn around and complain that too much attention is being accorded these murders."

The government cannot claim to want to defend press freedom "and then suggest solutions, like harsher libel laws and other moves, that will only succeed in gagging independent journalism," Varona and Conde added.

They pointed out that the only genuine deterrent is to show clear proof that murder — whether of journalists, human rights activists or advocates against illegal gambling, illegal drugs, illegal logging and corruption — does not pay.

The highest compliment we can give to Filipinos working for good governance and justice in this country "is to protect them from those who would seek to subvert our democracy," Varona said. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Artemio Dumlao, Roel Pareño, Reuters, AP