IT IS NO mere coincidence that journalist Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10, the 73rd International Human Rights Day, at a time when the Filipino people face the most atrocious attacks on people’s rights. She and her team reported on and tackled press freedom violations, threats and attacks against journalists and human rights defenders, killings in the drug war and the war against dissent, and other human rights violations — despite being at the receiving end of threats, persecution and legal harassment.
Amid attempts to silence critical voices, protests and dissent, those who dare to retell the truth and assert the people’s right to information contribute to the people’s broader movement for justice and accountability.
Many of the country’s media practitioners, journalists and press freedom advocates continue to suffer. In their practice of the journalism profession, many were killed, arrested and detained on trumped up charges, threatened and red-tagged for being members of alternative media groups and organizations of journalists, or for simply doing their jobs.
We want to pay attention to cases of media killings as the country enters the election season. It is appalling that after the Philippines was named as the second most dangerous for journalists after the Ampatuan massacre in 2009, we still witness killings of media practitioners in relation to their profession. We maintain that attacks against journalists should stop, and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
Also, we continue to oppose censorship, criminalization of libel, and politically-motivated legal challenges and closure, like what has been done to media outfits like ABS-CBN and the recent libel charges of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi against seven news organizations. The recent Supreme Court decision on the 37 petitioners questioning the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act is likewise expected to impact on press freedom and the exercise of freedom of expression.
Clearly, the fight for press freedom and freedom of expression as well as the people’s right to information is a continuing challenge. But even during times of tyranny and dictatorship, truth-tellers among journalists and media practitioners persist because of their commitment to truth and accountability, to human rights and justice, to the people’s interests and welfare.
