'Never again'

LAHUG, Cebu City, Philippines – National and local journalists gathered here yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre.

Calling for a speedy trial of the suspects behind the massacre, media men who attended a conference at the Marcelo Fernan Press Center said the carnage was not only an attack against press freedom but a direct affront to the country’s democracy.

“The Maguindanao massacre alluded to the Ampatuan political clan was not only a media problem but an attack to our democracy. It is a problem that affects us and our institutions,” Nonoy Espina, of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said.

NUJP was among the organizers of the event “Journalists Under Fire,” spearheaded by the United Kingdom-based International News Security Institute (INSI), the Germany-based Peace Conflict Journalism (Pecojon), Center for Community Journalism (CCJ), among others, to include the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

One of the panelists, chief superintendent Alex Monteagudo, the PNP’s deputy commander of Task Force Usig, assured the media and other participants that the top priority of the police leadership under the Aquino administration is to address the unexplained killings of journalists and members of leftist groups.

Task Force Usig is the official police body investigating the unexplained killings.

Monteagudo said the PNP leadership has devised a security program for members of the working press.

Unlike before when law enforcers get into the picture only during investigation of a killing of a media practitioner, police are now taking a proactive role to help journalists protect themselves and their families from threats of assassination and other harm.

He said the PNP Task Force Usig Security Education Program for Media Practitioners, a security handbook, is intended to teach media practitioners the basic dictum that “personal security is a personal concern.”

During the conference, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) lawyer Alejandro Alonso Jr., representing CHR Commissioner for Central Visayas Jose Manuel Mamauag, said the unexplained killing of journalists and members of militant groups was at its worst during the Arroyo regime, but added that the CHR is also concerned about the spate of unexplained killings under the Aquino administration.

“Year 2002 was the highest media killings that happened in the history of the country,” Alonso said, citing CHR records from 1986 up to the present.

He said the human rights body has tallied 141 media men killed, 104 of these took place during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

But he said that the number of cases recorded in the current administration is increasingly alarming.

“The new regime seems to condone this (unexplained) killing. But despite this we are waging an unhampered effort to investigate and monitor all these cases,” he said.

Reduce ‘culture of impunity’

Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, former Maguindanao martial law administrator, said the culture of impunity has eased in the province a year after the infamous massacre because military rule has restored governance.

“I can say the main difference that happened when the state of emergency then martial law was declared and then lifted after a short period – we have reduced the culture of impunity,” Ferrer said.

He said brazen show of firepower was very open in the province, with politicians towing platoons of fully armed paramilitary and even some soldiers and police before the bloody incident happened on Nov. 23 last year.

Ferrer said the authorities were able to prohibit politicians from displaying their firearms and escorts while the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units organized by the local government officials have been disbanded and disarmed and their firearms recalled.

“We have recovered their (civilians) trust in the military and police as barely a number of those in uniform who were involved directly or indirectly have been arrested and placed under trial,” he added.

However, he expressed belief that the prosecution of the case will really take some time, citing not all of the suspects arrested were directly involved in the crime.

“What is important is that the government is serious in the prosecution of the case,” he said.

Secure vanguards of press freedom

Meanwhile, Frank La Rue, the United Nations rapporteur on freedom of expression, called on governments to guarantee freedom of the press and secure safety of journalists at all times.

La Rue’s statements were made during the fifth Journalism Asia Forum (JAF) 2010 held at the Manila Hotel yesterday attended by journalists from Southeast Asian countries observing the first anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre.

La Rue, however, does not specifically refer to the Philippines, which is on top of the list of countries with high impunity index, as he was not officially invited in the event.

He came as an academic visitor promoting the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression on the invitation of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance which hosted the JAF 2010.

“Governments must guarantee freedom of the press and security of journalists in times of conflict and peace,” La Rue said.

He also advised governments not to prejudge cases of killing of journalists as it will harm the investigation.

“All investigation has to begin with that. Attacks on journalists are not just an attack on the profession but on informers of the society which is crucial for democracy,” he said.

La Rue said violence against journalists is impunity, noting that such “is not just an individual case but is fast becoming a state policy of cover-up.”

“Impunity is simply not acceptable,” he said.

Lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno of the Free Legal Assistance Group, on the other hand, said that impunity is the dark side of accountability that destroys the fabric of society.

However, he said eliminating it is not an easy task as judicial processes of the country are notoriously slow and being exploited by some quarters.

He also cited the inadequacy of the country’s witness protection program and the lack of mechanics to perpetuate testimonies of witnesses.

“It is sad, while witnesses are in safehouses, suspects are freely roaming around and sometimes the long processes break the will of witnesses in criminal cases,” he said. – Dino Balabo, Roel Pareño, Cet Dematera