Arming newspapermen will not stop assassinations

First of all, we are against the granting of permits to civilians to carry firearms. In our opinion, that would not decrease the number of shootings. If anything, it will contribute to its increase. As a general rule, the newsmen and activists who have been shot were all assassinated in a similar way. By that we mean, that they were executed by two persons riding tandem on a motorcycle. The only way one can protect one's self from such attacks is to have a gun on hand ready to shoot back when attacked. The only way to do this is to be ready to shoot first every time one sees two men on a motorcycle. There are so many motorcycles on the road that this is impossible.

What is needed is a study of all the recent assassinations of news reporters. The first thing to find out is whether they were all shot by a group or whether they were all individual incidents. As we have constantly been pointing out, almost all – if not all – of the assassinations were committed in the provinces and the victims were not prominent newspapermen. The term used for almost all the victims was "freelance journalist." The trouble with this term is that it does not reveal whether they were trained newspapermen or not. By trained newspapermen, we mean journalists who have graduated from journalism in college or have worked for major newspapers. Here, anyone who has published a small item in a tabloid can say that he is a journalist.

The Philippines now has the worldwide reputation of being the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists. We sincerely believe that it is one of the safest professions. The best proof is that no newspaper office is even on alert. Things go on normally as usual.

If a journalist is shot in connection with his work, it can only be for two things: First, he exposed some individuals in government or private enterprise of practicing graft and corruption. Second, he accused an innocent person of committing a crime. We have libel laws in this country and they protect innocent people from charges.

The next victims of recent assassinations are the active members of militant groups. Admittedly, some militant groups are classified as radical groups. But they can be arrested and charged if they act outside the law. But they should not be arrested without a warrant, or worse, assassinated.

Killing is a capital offense. And one of the first duties of our law enforcers, meaning the police and our armed forces is to prevent killings. Even the most wanted criminals should not be shot on sight. They should be given a chance to surrender and tried in court.

We sincerely hope that the recent rash of killings of newsmen and members of militant groups become a thing of the past. We are a democratic country. Let freedom of expression prevail. Ours is a government of law.