I FOUND this line in 300, the movie about the 300 Spartan warriors based on the Battle of Thermopylae, holding off nearly 100,000 to 150,000 Persians. The movie is about that victory of a few brave men holding their ground against a larger adversary.
The cheesy script went this way.
The Persian Messenger: No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
King Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I’ve chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same.
Well, OK. The Persians finally vanquished the 300. Says the Bible, “Speak not into the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of your words” (Proverbs 23:9).
Former SunStar Editor-in-Chief Marchel Espina, Rappler correspondent and chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Bacolod chapter, said she was returning from Canlaon City, Negros Oriental after her coverage on the spate of killings in the province two weeks ago when the driver of her rented vehicle noticed the suspicious motorcycle rider allegedly tailing them.
In these times, we cannot take chances. Suspicious-looking motorcyclists with crash helmets or bonnets do shoot messengers. Motorcyclists may not be out for a ride.
NUJP-Bacólod echoed the Leonidas line: “We remind all parties to the continuing armed conflict that journalists are civilians and should not, for whatever reason, be made targets for harassment, threats, or attacks.”
I understand why journos have to take precautionary measures. King Leonidas was right. The Spartans do kill messengers. As the British The Economist noted in 2004, “The sight of journalists behind bars will no longer be confined to the world’s worst regimes and the pages of George Orwell.”
The Philippines was dubbed as the deadliest peacetime country for journalists in Southeast Asia, according to the Southeast Asia Media Report, as published by the International Federation of Journalists on December 21, 2018.
Recently, UP schoolmate Soliman M. Santos, Jr., a judge of the Regional Trial Court of Naga City, emailed me his concerns. He is a long-time peace advocate since 1986; a proponent of the 1988 Naga Peace Zone. He’s a batchmate of Sec. Hermogones Esperon at the Philippine Science High School Class.
Sol writes, “The most immediate or urgent concern, however, in this time of escalated armed conflict and insurgency-related killings like currently in Negros island, is for civilian protection from continuing armed hostilities. Among other measures of civilian protection, including better respect for human rights and international humanitarian law (the rules of war), local communities.”
Thank you for the advisory, your Honor, er, Sol.
bqsanc@yahoomail.com