SECOND UPDATE: NUJP’s final list of media casualties at the end of the article.
Someone on Facebook asked why people — we journalists, specifically — are saying, “Stop killing journalists” when it should, under the circumstances, be, “Stop killing” – period. That made me think, and I had to admit to myself that in the current case (the “Maguindanao massacre” or, as some colleagues insist, the “Ampatuan massacre” since it happened in the town of Ampatuan), we should really be condemning the fact that innocent people, regardless of their professions, were killed in such a gruesome manner.
If anything, the cry ought to be, “Stop killing women” since many of the victims, including two lawyers and a number of reporters, were women. Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu had tasked his wife Genalyn as well as two sisters of his to go to the Commission on Election (Comelec) office in Shariff Aquak to file his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for governor. He had thought that the people who had threatened to harm him if he insisted on filing his candidacy would be good Muslims and not touch the women, but he was wrong.
The killers disregarded the Koranic injunction not to harm women and proceeded to slaughter them; according to some reports, the women were even raped before they were killed. Just how barbaric the killings were were articulated by Vice Mayor Mangudadatu himself, who said his wife was “shot in the mouth, her eyes pierced, her breasts also shot, her legs mutilated, and her private part slashed four times.”
I’ve heard some people blame the vice mayor for the women’s deaths because he had deliberately placed them in harm’s way, but really, who would have thought the killers would be so inhuman? Mangudadatu had obviously intended to confound his enemies by using women as his emissaries to the Comelec, but the beasts responded by doing the unthinkable.
The vehicle of UNTV. Photo courtesy of Dann Pantoja of Peacebuilders Community, Inc.
Unfortunately, the unthinkable was also done to reporters who were brought in to cover the filing of Mangudadatu’s COC. It was an event — after all, he was going to go up against the acknowledged leader of Maguindanao — and as such the journalists were there on legitimate coverage. The vice mayor had also obviously thought his enemies would not try anything because the media were watching, but he was wrong.
If the alleged witness in the carnage is to be believed, then the journalists were also killed “so that no one would talk about the incident.” Which brings me back to the Facebook user’s comment I had mentioned at the beginning of this article. Why do we say “Stop killing journalists,” as if journalists were the only victims of the massacre? I am not justifying it, but I need to say that as a profession, journalists are one of the most targeted groups in the Philippines for attacks. The latest data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) show that 104 journalists have been killed since 1986. The worst part is that practically none of the killings have been solved — not to the extent that the masterminds, not just the paid gunmen, were caught and imprisoned.
This is the fear that we journalists have in the Maguindanao massacre. Government claims there will be no sacred cows in the investigation and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, but we have heard the same thing before. So far, justice has eluded our fallen colleagues.
Photo courtesy of Dann Pantoja of Peacebuilders Community, Inc.
While it may be said that justice eludes everyone in this country, it is especially troublesome if media are the victims because attacks on our profession are attacks on democracy itself. We are not special by any stretch of the imagination, and we do not enjoy privileges that other people are deprived of. What we are are practitioners of a freedom that all of us are supposed to enjoy but are all too often prevented from doing so. If we are free to speak, then the rest of the country is free. But if we are muzzled, censored, threatened, executed, or summarily killed, everyone’s freedom of expression is compromised. And when freedom of expression is compromised, then our very democracy is in danger.
So we continue to say, “Stop killing journalists” — not because we are the only victims, but because each journalist’s death is a nail driven into the coffin of our freedom and democracy.
Photo by Rene B. Lumawag
UPDATE:
Final tally according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP):
1. Adolfo, Benjie, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
2. Araneta, Henry, Radio DZRH, General Santos City
3. Arriola, Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac,” UNTV, General Santos City
4. Bataluna, Rubello, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
5. Betia, Arturo, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
6. Cabillo, Romeo Jimmy, Midland Review, Tacurong City
7. Cablitas, Marites, News Focus, General Santos City
8. Cachuela, Hannibal, Punto News, Koronadal City
9. Caniban, John, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
10. Dalmacio, Lea, Socsargen News, General Santos City
11. Decina, Noel, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
12. Dela Cruz, Gina, Saksi News, General Santos City
13. Doheilo, Eugene, UNTV, General Santos City
14. Duhay, Jhoy, Gold Star Daily, Tacurong City
15. Gatchalian, Jun, Davao City
16. Legarte, Bienvenido, Jr., Prontiera News, Koronadal City
17. Lupogan, Lindo, News Media Gazette, Davao City
18. Maravilla, Ernesto “Bart,” Bombo Radyo, Koronadal City
19. Merisco, Rey, Periodico Ini, Koronadal City
20. Momay, Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, Midland Review, Tacurong City
21. Montaño, Marife “Neneng,” Saksi News, General Santos City
22. Morales, Rosell, News Focus, General Santos City
23. Nuñez, Victor, UNTV, General Santos City
24. Perante, Ronnie, Gold Star Daily correspondent, Koronadal City
25. Parcon, Joel, Prontiera News, Koronadal City
26. Razon, Fernando “Rani,” Periodico Ini, General Santos City
27. Reblando, Alejandro “Bong,” Manila Bulletin, General Santos City
28. Salaysay, Napoleon, Mindanao Gazette, Cotabato City
29. Santos, Gatchalian, Davao City (media affiliation not known)
30. Subang, Ian, Socsargen Today, General Santos City
31. Teodoro, Andres “Andy,” Central Mindanao Inquirer, Tacurong City
Additional name from UNTV:
1. Evardo, Jolito
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[...] or bold italics — to emphasize words. Even when I write about the most serious topics, such as the recent Maguindanao massacre that killed 30 journalists, I tend to downplay emotion and instead appeal to the [...]
[...] one of my blog entries last week (“Stop killing journalists!!!”) I included some photos of the site of the November 23 Maguindanao massacre taken by Dann Pantoja [...]