The country marks World Press Freedom Day today as the manhunt continues for former corrections chief Gerald Bantag, who is wanted for the murder of broadcaster Percival Mabasa or Percy Lapid. Mabasa was gunned down on Oct. 3, 2022 near his home in Las Piñas, with the suspicion quickly focusing on Bantag, who had been the subject of Mabasa’s critical commentary.
Bantag’s co-accused who had also been in hiding, his former aide Ricardo Zulueta, was finally located last March, but only after being reported dead of heart failure in Bataan. The Philippine National Police has said there was no foul play in the death. But it could affect the case against Bantag, who is the accused mastermind in the murder not only of Lapid but also of a Bilibid prisoner who could have provided critical testimony to the prosecution.
The failure to bring killers of journalists to justice is one of the reasons why the Philippines continues to rank high in the Global Impunity Index drawn up by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Since democracy was restored in 1986, 199 media workers have been killed in the country, with Juan Jumalon the latest to be murdered in November last year as he was broadcasting live from his home in Misamis Occidental. He was the fourth journalist to be killed since President Marcos assumed power in 2022. At least in the case of Jumalon, two suspects were arrested last March, and the alleged gunman was caught on April 29.
Murder is not the only threat to press freedom in the country. The power to issue broadcast franchises is being weaponized for political purposes. Freedom of information remains a struggle, with the Office of the Ombudsman itself, for example, preventing media access to the annual statements of assets, liabilities and net worth of government officials.
As in the rest of the world, the Philippine press faces financial and existential challenges posed by social media and infotainment. Digital technology has allowed the proliferation of fake news, disinformation and malicious content, and artificial intelligence is intensifying the threat. This is bad news for elections and democracy in general, for the dissemination of information on public health and even for efforts to fight climate change, as the UNESCO emphasizes on World Press Freedom Day.
UNESCO points out that in the past 15 years around the world, 44 environmental journalists have been murdered. World Press Freedom Day is an occasion to remember that in the face of all these threats, press freedom and credible journalism become even more important.