World Press Freedom Day

In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists concluded that "the Philippines is the most murderous country of all." This statement was made to mark the 15th annual observance of World Press Freedom Day. The phrase "most murderous country of all" could be misleading because some people may take it to mean that it is the government itself that is behind the slaying of journalists. In Paris, they published the statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines that declared, "We will not be cowed! We will not be silenced!"

To this day, we are at a total loss concerning the sudden rise in the number of journalists being murdered. Most, if not all of the murders, have happened outside Metro Manila and in the published reports the name of the newspaper that the murdered newsman wrote for was not even mentioned. We have been a practicing journalist for more than fifty years and we really don’t see signs that people have suddenly developed a special hatred for journalists. What the National Union of Philippine Journalists should do is to conduct individual studies of all the journalists that have been murdered. It should, of course, start with what they wrote. An objective study would show whether they were using press freedom for the common good or for their personal aggrandizement. An objective study would also show the groups or individuals that would have stood to gain by their murders. The killing of a journalist cannot be justified. If he has libeled a person, we have laws against libel. They can be charged and prosecuted in court.

There are some statistics that we believe the Philippine National Police should come out with. First, how many journalists have been murdered? Second, how many suspects have been arrested? How many cases have reached court? How many have been convicted? So far the impression we have is that no one has ever been arrested for killing a journalist. The National Union of Philippine Journalists, on the other hand, should try to find out why all the killings happened in the provinces. The center of journalism is, of course, Metro Manila. Yet most, if not all metropolitan newsmen feel very secure.

The state must do something to go after the persons who murdered journalists otherwise freedom of the press will lose its meaning. It will be replaced by freedom to get murdered.

We don’t believe in granting any special privilege to any group. Newsmen must account for what they publish. Like all freedoms, freedom of the press has its limitations. It generally ends where libel begins. And any newspaperman that is not convincing will not have readers for long. Freedom of the press is just an extension of freedom of speech. We all can be held to account for what we say. But no one should be murdered for having said the wrong thing.