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Media violence an attack to democracy -- NUJP

Rising media death toll sparks nationwide protest

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 19) — Ten deaths since January 2004. Fifty-nine unresolved killings since 1986. This year has been the worst for Filipino journalists. The Philippines is dubbed the most dangerous place to be for journalists next to war-torn Iraq.

Outraged by the continued killing and harassment of their colleagues, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) including other media groups launched protest actions this week to condemn the recent deaths of MindaNews photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag and Aklan Bombo Radyo anchor and station manager Heherson “Bombo Boy” Hinolan.

Protests were held in Manila, Iloilo, Davao, Aklan, and Baguio City through NUJP chapters therein.

In an emailed statement, the NUJP demanded swift and fair investigation on the deaths of Lumawag and Hinolan.

Loss to journalism

Lumawag, 25, was in Jolo to cover the eidl fitr, the celebration marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. He was felled by a single gunshot upon return to the hotel. Gene went out of their lodgings to take pictures of the Jolo sunset.

“Covering a religious event, wanting to capture the beauty of nature; this juxtaposition only heightens the total insanity of the crime”, the NUJP said in an emailed statement.

Gene’s colleagues say that the Abu Sayaff or any other Moro rebel group had no reason to want him dead. “He covered the Muslim insurgency with professionalism and had just been part of a team that featured the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)”, they said.

Hinolan, popular for his hard-hitting commentaries in his radio program Bombohanay Bigtime, was shot seven times two days after Lumawag was murdered. Hinolan tried to evade his assailant, who gave chase. He struggled for his life for 47 hours until internal organs succumbed from the gunshot infections.

Nationwide protest

Just beneath the word “katarungan” at the Justice Hall in Baguio City hangs a streamer condemning the escalating violence against media practitioners. “The attack on media people is an attack to press freedom and the public’s right to know”, it read.

In a short program here on November 17, NUJP – Baguio-Benguet, including other media groups in the city called on media workers to protect and organize their ranks against the attack on press freedom.

“We call on our fellow journalists not to submit themselves to the threat and attack on our ranks. Let us join hands in the advancement of our freedom of the press and of expression”, this chapter said in a statement.

“We challenge the Arroyo administration to conduct speedy and impartial investigation on these cases”, said NUJP National Vice Chair Arthur Allad-iw. He added that such situations are manifestations of breakdown in the law in many parts of the country.

Earlier, the Cordillera Photographers and Videographers Press Corps held a candle lighting activity for Lumawag near the City Hall.

In Davao, residents bowed their heads in respect as over 300 journalists marched around the city to protest Lumawag’s death.

On Panay Island, radio listeners came out in force and stood on the streets of Iloilo as a convoy of vehicles brought Hinolan’s remains. One hundred fifty journalists from Aklan, Capiz, and Antique joined the protest.

“People threw flowers. They held lit candles. Many were crying and they wore black”, recounted Inquirer correspondent and island-wide coordinator and director Nestor Burgos.

In Bacolod, 100 journalists replicated the event in a rally at the Freedom Park, then proceeded to the pier to fetch Hinolan’s remains.

In sunset rites, the NUJP, the Philippine Center for Photojournalism, the Philippine Press Photographers, including non-journalists gathered at the Manila Bay in protest.

Attack to democracy

With the above attacks to press freedom, NUJP said the greater assaults to civil liberties are likely to follow.

“Press freedom is directly linked to other basic rights like the right to freedom of expression and organization, the right to be safe from torture, extra-judicial killing and detention”, said Inday Espino-Varona, NUJP national chairperson.

Across the country, radio stations have been threatened with closure by authorities displeased over hard-hitting reports. The Bombo chain has suffered closure in Cagayan and Isabela. Other radio stations in Mindanao and Luzon operate under the same conditions.

MindaNews reported that a day before Lumawag’s death, ABS-CBN reporter Paul Palacio and his cameraman were threatened by soldiers in Loloy, Cagayan de Oro with bursts of gunfire while they were on assignment. Palacio was covering an alleged toll fee among truck drivers hauling aggregates at the quarry site near the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

“We urge Filipino journalists to remain steadfast in our commitment to the public. Just as the courageous “mosquito press” during the Marcos years exposed the rot of the regime, we need the winds of press freedom to blow away the infirmities of our democracy, “the NUJP statement ended. # via NORDIS

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