EDITORIAL - Deadly place for journos no more?

The Philippines is no longer listed as one of Most Deadly Countries for Journalists this year. But is this something to be proud about? Not really.

A Philippine STAR report said that for the first time since 2007, the New York-based press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) did not include the Philippines among countries that are considered deadly for journalists. This, after the press freedom watchdog did not document cases of Filipino journalists killed in direct relation to work this year.

Here comes the bad news, though. While the country is excluded in the list, the group acknowledged that there were at least seven Filipino journalists who were killed this year.  The only reason why these deaths are not included in CPJs database is because it is not clear if the incidents were work-related. And the reason the motives of the killings are not clear is that these cases have remained unsolved.

There is nothing to be proud about in unsolved media killings, which is usually what happens when a media personality is killed in this country.

Let's take the case of the Maguindanao massacre, which CPJ considers as the single deadliest attack against the media after 32 of the 58 people who were killed were journalists. The massacre happened in November 23, 2009, and, after six years, there have been no convictions despite the filing of charges against 198 people.

The alleged mastermind, Andal Ampatuan Sr., died due to liver cancer complications last July 17 while on hospital arrest. Before Andal's death, his son Sajid Islam was granted bail last January. Sajid, after posting an P11.6 million bail for 58 counts of murder, filed his certificate of candidacy last October and is running for mayor in the clan's bailiwick, Sharrif Aguak. Sajid's brother, former Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan, however, remains in prison.

Some 50 new suspects have been subjected to preliminary investigation last March but still, justice for the families of the 58 victims has been slow. Very slow. Despite the high profile suspects, the gravity and magnitude of the incident, despite media pushing for more attention to the case, the deaths of 58 people have remained unsolved. How much more the deaths of the seven journalists who were killed this year!

Being excluded in the list of deadliest places for journalists is not actually good news. It reflects impunity and snail-paced justice.