GENERAL SANTOS CITY—December 6 is the day when 20-year old McDelbert Arriola was supposed to be married with his live-in partner. But that Sunday, he faced the altar lying in a coffin.
Arriola, a UNTV cameraman, was among the 31 journalists killed in the infamous Maguindanao massacre that claimed at least 57 people.
On Monday, foreign journalists and colleagues from around the country shed tears in an emotion-filled tribute at the graves of 12 media practitioners from this city, including Arriola, who died from the Nov. 23 Ampatuan massacre.
Bouquets of flowers and lighted candles were offered at each grave. The 12 journalists are buried near each other at the Forest Lake Memorial Gardens.
Eight of their comrades were earlier buried last Dec. 4, one on Dec. 5, and the remaining three on Dec. 6.
Candles and white roses were also offered for 19 other journalist victims from Koronadal, Tacurong, Cotabato and Davao cities.
Last Dec. 9, journalists throughout the world expressed their collective outcry to demand justice for the 31 journalists and media workers killed in the massacre.
Dubbed the “Global Day of Solidarity for Filipino Journalists,” the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) seeks to heighten the campaign against a culture of impunity in the country blamed for the string of deaths of media practitioners.
The IFJ has put to task the Arroyo administration for the persistence of this social environment.
As a solidarity action, media associations and news organizations in major world capitals are expected to troop to Philippine embassies and register their call on government through various forms of protest.
“Filipino journalists need to hear our voices expressing solidarity with the victims and anger at the Philippine government that allowed this to happen,” a statement from Aidan White, IFJ secretary-general said.
“(Some) 106 journalists have now met violent death since President Arroyo (assumed power) in 2001. Her government has created the circumstances for this massacre by allowing a culture of impunity to flourish,” White stressed.
According to the IFJ, the November 23 incident “is the biggest single atrocity against journalists on record.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) had earlier expressed fears government “will continue to take insufficient action to end a culture of impunity in relation to the killing of journalists.”
It noted that more than 100 journalists had been killed in the 23 years prior to the massacre in Ampatuan town on November 23.
The IFJ, which represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries, is leading a four-day International Solidarity Mission in the country that kicked off here December 6 to bring support to the victims’ families and probe the circumstances of the Nov. 23 massacre.
The Mission, organized as an emergency response to the recent killings, was scheduled to meet with authorities especially those responsible for bringing to the bar of justice those involved in the crime.
“It is six months before the May 10 elections and the mission hopes that this horrific start to the electoral process is countered by a determination from the President and her administration to ensure that justice and journalism will be allowed to flourish without impediment,” said Australian journalist Mike Dobbie who heads the Mission.
“Until those things are done, then the perpetrators of this mass murder will be considered to have achieved some of their aims. That is, to intimidate by multiple acts of violence the people of their community,” Dobbie added.
The Mission includes representatives from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Indonesia, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance of Australia, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA), Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), and Union Network International (UNI).
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO, PECOJON
Arriola, a UNTV cameraman, was among the 31 journalists killed in the infamous Maguindanao massacre that claimed at least 57 people.
On Monday, foreign journalists and colleagues from around the country shed tears in an emotion-filled tribute at the graves of 12 media practitioners from this city, including Arriola, who died from the Nov. 23 Ampatuan massacre.
Bouquets of flowers and lighted candles were offered at each grave. The 12 journalists are buried near each other at the Forest Lake Memorial Gardens.
Eight of their comrades were earlier buried last Dec. 4, one on Dec. 5, and the remaining three on Dec. 6.
Candles and white roses were also offered for 19 other journalist victims from Koronadal, Tacurong, Cotabato and Davao cities.
Last Dec. 9, journalists throughout the world expressed their collective outcry to demand justice for the 31 journalists and media workers killed in the massacre.
Dubbed the “Global Day of Solidarity for Filipino Journalists,” the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) seeks to heighten the campaign against a culture of impunity in the country blamed for the string of deaths of media practitioners.
The IFJ has put to task the Arroyo administration for the persistence of this social environment.
As a solidarity action, media associations and news organizations in major world capitals are expected to troop to Philippine embassies and register their call on government through various forms of protest.
“Filipino journalists need to hear our voices expressing solidarity with the victims and anger at the Philippine government that allowed this to happen,” a statement from Aidan White, IFJ secretary-general said.
“(Some) 106 journalists have now met violent death since President Arroyo (assumed power) in 2001. Her government has created the circumstances for this massacre by allowing a culture of impunity to flourish,” White stressed.
According to the IFJ, the November 23 incident “is the biggest single atrocity against journalists on record.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) had earlier expressed fears government “will continue to take insufficient action to end a culture of impunity in relation to the killing of journalists.”
It noted that more than 100 journalists had been killed in the 23 years prior to the massacre in Ampatuan town on November 23.
The IFJ, which represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries, is leading a four-day International Solidarity Mission in the country that kicked off here December 6 to bring support to the victims’ families and probe the circumstances of the Nov. 23 massacre.
The Mission, organized as an emergency response to the recent killings, was scheduled to meet with authorities especially those responsible for bringing to the bar of justice those involved in the crime.
“It is six months before the May 10 elections and the mission hopes that this horrific start to the electoral process is countered by a determination from the President and her administration to ensure that justice and journalism will be allowed to flourish without impediment,” said Australian journalist Mike Dobbie who heads the Mission.
“Until those things are done, then the perpetrators of this mass murder will be considered to have achieved some of their aims. That is, to intimidate by multiple acts of violence the people of their community,” Dobbie added.
The Mission includes representatives from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) of Indonesia, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance of Australia, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA), Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), and Union Network International (UNI).
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO, PECOJON