The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) criticized Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) executive director Undersecretary Jose Torres Jr.’s denial of a culture of impunity on media killings in the country.
While it is true that not all killings of journalists are linked to their profession, NUJP said it maintains that all media killings must be presumed work-related until proven otherwise.
“This presumption is necessary precisely because of the enduring climate of impunity in the Philippines, where perpetrators, especially the masterminds, are rarely identified, prosecuted or convicted,” the Union said.
Torres said last Friday after signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Police Commission that no culture of impunity on media killings exists in the country.
In a statement on the killing of Albay-based broadcaster Noel Belen Samar last October 20, the PTFoMS also pointed out that of 199 cases of media killings since 1986, “only 75” have been linked to the victims’ work as journalists.
“Conversely, 73 incidents were unrelated to their work, with no definite records on 12 cases,” it said.
Samar is the eighth media workers killed under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.
In response to the NUJP statement, Torres presented a different number, saying 82 incidents were classified as “work-related,” along with 32 cases from the Maguindanao massacre, totaling 114 cases.
Torres Jr. said the PTFoMS is doing its best to fight the “culture of impunity.”
“Our review of all these cases is ongoing, and we do not underestimate the impact of these attacks on press freedom in the country,” he said.
The NUJP however argued that to dismiss nearly half of the media killings as not work-related “ignores the cruel reality that justice in these cases remains elusive, and that state institutions have consistently failed to hold accountable those who silence the press.”
The existence of a culture of impunity is bolstered by findings by international groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that continues to list the Philippines among the world’s worst offenders in its 2024 Global Impunity Index, ranking ninth, with at least 18 unsolved journalist murders, the Union said.
“The country has appeared on that list for 17 years in a row. These figures tell a different story from the one painted by the PTFoMS,” NUJP said
“Minimizing the problem does not make journalists safer. What will make a difference is ending impunity by ensuring that every case of violence against the press is investigated swiftly and independently, and that both assailants and masterminds are brought to justice,” it added.
The NUJP also said it is crucial that the government recognize, rather than downplay, the dangers that Filipino journalists face.
The Cagayan de Oro chapter of the NUJP also criticized PTFoMS’s dismissal of nearly half of media killings as “not work related” as glossing over government’s failure to bring those responsible to justice.
“Minimizing the problem does not make journalists safer,” NUJP-CDO said. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)
