AMPATUAN, MAGUINDANAO—Amid the mid-day heat, a dozen journalists covering the unfolding events in Maguindanao province took time off to remember the plight of fallen colleagues 16 days after the grisly Nov. 23 massacre that claimed at least 57 lives.
The journalists offered flowers, prayers and lit candles in a spot between two grave sites were victims of the massacre were dug together with several vehicles.
The offering consisted of 30 white roses and a similar number of candles for the slain journalists and media workers whose bodies were recovered from the scene. A pinkish red rose and a blue candle was also offered for local reporter Reynaldo Momay and for the rest of the massacre victims.
Until today, Momay’s body is yet to be found; only his denture was recovered from the massacre scene.
A button pin was left among the circle of flowers and candles. It bears the message “Fight Impunity, Stop Media Killings.”
Journalists from around the world joined Filipino colleagues on Wednesday for the Global Day of Action against Impunity.
Throughout the country, media groups have launched specific activities in support of the call by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) which represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries.
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.
Since Dec. 1, news organizations in Manila have been holding candle-lighting rites to remember the fallen colleagues. The Inquirer held one on Dec. 4.
In the western Mindanao cities of Ozamiz, Tangub and Pagadian, several broadcast stations carried an emotional appeal by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines for wider public support for protecting journalists from further attacks as a way of their giving importance to democracy.
The message is then followed by a one-minute silence in the airwaves at 12 noon and 3pm. Earlier at 7am, the broadcast stations throughout the country staged a similar one-minute of silence symbolic of the continuing demand for justice to the massacred media workers per campaign call of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP).
“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.”
“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 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.” More than a hundred journalists have been killed in the 23 years prior to the Ampatuan massacre.
The IFJ has led a four-day International Solidarity Mission in the country that kicked off in General Santos City on December 6 to bring support to the victims’ families and probe the circumstances of the massacre.
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).
Joining the international protest actions, journalists belonging to the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (PECOJON) in Indonesia has called on government to create an independent body to probe the Nov. 23 incident. In a statement, they also committed to help keep track of the case through its resolution process as an assurance of
In an editorial last week, the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post have urged for a similar action by President Arroyo. It said the probe body should “not (be) answerable through the usual chain of command.”
“In order to prevent a climate of fear swift action is needed to show not only journalists, but also common citizens, that such acts will not go unpunished,” the Bangkok Post said.
In an “open letter to my friends and fellows who are not journalists,” German journalist Antonia Koop, PECOJON international coordinator, said that as a result of the Nov. 23 massacre, “it is time to protect your journalists; or you will lose us, one after the other.”
“If we journalists fail, you live your lives blindfolded. By keeping all stakeholders of society accountable, journalists protect your rights,” Koop reminds.
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO, PECOJON
The journalists offered flowers, prayers and lit candles in a spot between two grave sites were victims of the massacre were dug together with several vehicles.
The offering consisted of 30 white roses and a similar number of candles for the slain journalists and media workers whose bodies were recovered from the scene. A pinkish red rose and a blue candle was also offered for local reporter Reynaldo Momay and for the rest of the massacre victims.
Until today, Momay’s body is yet to be found; only his denture was recovered from the massacre scene.
A button pin was left among the circle of flowers and candles. It bears the message “Fight Impunity, Stop Media Killings.”
Journalists from around the world joined Filipino colleagues on Wednesday for the Global Day of Action against Impunity.
Throughout the country, media groups have launched specific activities in support of the call by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) which represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries.
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.
Since Dec. 1, news organizations in Manila have been holding candle-lighting rites to remember the fallen colleagues. The Inquirer held one on Dec. 4.
In the western Mindanao cities of Ozamiz, Tangub and Pagadian, several broadcast stations carried an emotional appeal by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines for wider public support for protecting journalists from further attacks as a way of their giving importance to democracy.
The message is then followed by a one-minute silence in the airwaves at 12 noon and 3pm. Earlier at 7am, the broadcast stations throughout the country staged a similar one-minute of silence symbolic of the continuing demand for justice to the massacred media workers per campaign call of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP).
“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.”
“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 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.” More than a hundred journalists have been killed in the 23 years prior to the Ampatuan massacre.
The IFJ has led a four-day International Solidarity Mission in the country that kicked off in General Santos City on December 6 to bring support to the victims’ families and probe the circumstances of the massacre.
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).
Joining the international protest actions, journalists belonging to the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (PECOJON) in Indonesia has called on government to create an independent body to probe the Nov. 23 incident. In a statement, they also committed to help keep track of the case through its resolution process as an assurance of
In an editorial last week, the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post have urged for a similar action by President Arroyo. It said the probe body should “not (be) answerable through the usual chain of command.”
“In order to prevent a climate of fear swift action is needed to show not only journalists, but also common citizens, that such acts will not go unpunished,” the Bangkok Post said.
In an “open letter to my friends and fellows who are not journalists,” German journalist Antonia Koop, PECOJON international coordinator, said that as a result of the Nov. 23 massacre, “it is time to protect your journalists; or you will lose us, one after the other.”
“If we journalists fail, you live your lives blindfolded. By keeping all stakeholders of society accountable, journalists protect your rights,” Koop reminds.
REPORT BY RYAN ROSAURO, PECOJON