NEVER since the Marcos dictatorship have the media and journalists been as regularly and relentlessly attacked as under Rodrigo Duterte.
For sure, the most number of media killings - 103 - took place over the nine years we were governed (or misgoverned) by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, including the 32 who perished in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre.
Duterte himself has racked up the worst record of media killings - 11 - in the first two years of any president. And just days before his third Sona, Albay's Joey Llana became the 12th journalist killed under his watch.
While assassinations are bad enough, these are attacks on individuals. In the case of the Ampatuan massacre, it was an attack on a rival politician by a powerful clan that resented being challenged.
This government, however - yes, government because Duterte himself plays an active role - has been relentless in its efforts to undermine the media as an institution.
Duterte, loathe to being questioned and criticized, apparently sees the independent press as a nuisance or, at worst, an enemy. He and his mouthpieces - including his stable of social media prevaricators - accuse media of twisting the truth or of being corrupt. Never mind that he has not presented any proof to back his claims (okay, maybe he has in one case, that of his erstwhile friend, murdered Davao broadcaster Jun Pala) so his shrillest defenders have to resort to the very sin they accuse the media of committing - lying - even as they incite their followers to attack the hated "presstitutes."
Lately, the assaults have taken a marked turn for the worse.
Having banned one of his pet peeves - Rappler - from covering him even as it fights the Securities and Exchange Commission's revocation of its license, Duterte has again stepped up his attacks on the two other outfits he loves to hate - ASB-CBN, whose franchise he openly wishes Congress won't renew, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The uniformed services have also begun targeting journalists.
During the violent dispersal at NutriAsia in Bulacan, five journalists were arrested, their equipment and belongings seized, and some of them beaten. Other journalists following up on them with the Meycauayan police were told by the town police chief they needed a permit to cover and then escorted out of the station. Before the five were released, they were asked to sign a document promising not to write or produce any content against NutriAsia, which they rightly refused to do.
Last week, the 101st Technical and Administrative Services Group of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Command posted pictures on its Facebook page of Raymund Villanueva, deputy secretary general of the National Union of the Philippines, accusing him of links to the New People's Army.
Meanwhile, in Surigao del Sur, journalists covering the mass evacuation of lumad in a hinterland village of Lianga town reported being denied access to the displaced persons by the Army. And a radio reporter required to sign a logbook by security forces while visiting the evacuees was included among the respondents to a criminal case filed by the leader of a military-backed paramilitary group.
Journalism in this country is already risky enough without government adding to the dangers journalists have to face. This is why the NUJP has decided enough is enough and resolved to push back in support of its members and other colleagues threatened, harassed or attacked by agents of the government.
Years ago, the band of intrepid Negros journalists called COBRA-ANS had a sign on the backdoor of its vehicle that said: "Don't shoot journalists." On the other side of the door, the message continued: "We'll shoot back." It was tongue in cheek of course since the only things we shot with were cameras. But you get the point.
It would do government well to remember that the press is free not because of any kindness on its part but because independent Filipino journalists insist that it be free - and are willing to fight to keep it so.