Aquino urged to address media killings

A NEW York-based global media watchdog has asked president-elect Benigno Aquino III to strongly address the issue of media killings in the country, taking a keen interest on the successful prosecution of suspects in the Maguindanao massacre.

In a June 9, 2010 letter signed by its executive director, Joel Simon, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted Aquino's "strong electoral mandate" from the recent general elections, expressing hope he will leverage this "into a firm commitment to end the culture of impunity that has resulted in the extraordinarily high number of media killings in the Philippines."

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"A sincere government commitment to press freedom and the protection of journalists is essential to achieving the democratic aspirations embodied in your strong mandate to rule and reform," the CPJ emphasized.

Obstacles, it added, "should not be an excuse for inaction."

The letter was faxed to Aquino's Senate office. Its full content was posted in the CPJ website.

In the immediate, the CPJ asks Aquino to probe "the circumstances surrounding the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre," which is considered as the single deadliest attack against the press anywhere in the world since monitoring of media violations started in 1981.

Following the Maguindanao massacre, the Philippines topped the global list of most dangerous places to practice journalism. Some 32 journalists and media workers died in the incident.

But even prior to the massacre, the country has been among the top five in the list with around 80 killings of media practitioners documented since 1986, the year Aquino's mother Corazon was swept into the presidency following the first EDSA uprising that toppled the Marcos strongman rule and ushered democratization.

Based on statistics, the cases of media killings and harassment peaked under the outgoing administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"It is our strong belief that convictions of the masterminds and the assailants involved in the Maguindanao massacre would be a meaningful first step in breaking the cycle of murder and impunity that has taken so many media members' lives in the Philippines," the CPJ stressed.

Despite the local and international outcry condemning the killings, the group said indications are that the judicial process may be compromised by political considerations.

This worry was highlighted during the debacle last April when acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra dropped charges against former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan and his uncle Akmad, former mayor of Mamasapano town.

Agra's actions were done amid the strong protests by public prosecutors working on the case.

The two Ampatuans are principal suspects in the massacre.

"Although Agra later reinstated the charges on the basis of newly submitted evidence, his willingness to intervene by overruling the Quezon City Regional Court that is hearing the case underscored how vulnerable judicial processes can be to political pressures in the Philippines," CPJ observed.

The CPJ also took notice of a Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) report that "family members of victims have been approached with offers of money to drop charges against Ampatuan clan members."

In this light, it urged Aquino "to provide full support and ample resources to the relevant Justice Department agencies to ensure a free, fair, and speedy trial in this landmark case."

The CPJ also noted that overall on the question of press freedom, the country fared poorly in fighting the culture of impunity.

"Unpunished media killings are endemic," it said.

Its recent Global Impunity Index, released in April, ranked the Philippines as having "the third-worst record in the world for bringing the killers of journalists to justice..."

Its ranking trailed only that of Iraq and Somalia.

"It is a record unbefitting Asia's oldest democracy, and should be addressed immediately," CPJ pointed out.

The group said the Task Force USIG of the Philippine National Police (PNP), which is dedicated to investigating and resolving media and other extrajudicial killings, "has been unsuccessful in achieving substantial convictions in 62 of the 68 journalist murder cases recorded since 1992."

CPJ further said it believes that "only partial justice was reached in the other six cases."

CPJ noted that based on its research, the mishandling of evidence and a lack of witnesses willing to testify were major impediments to serving justice.

Quoting a member of Task Force Usig, Henry Libay, CPJ said "witnesses shied from the courtroom out of fears of reprisal, lack of financial support and a general distrust of law enforcement."

The CPJ said it is looking forward to working with the incoming Aquino administration "on protecting journalists and journalism in the Philippines."