Attacks on journalists will not be tolerated in our democracy.
— President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr.
It appears the Philippines still remain as ‘the most dangerous place for the media’ as more and more journalists are slain every year.
More than four years into the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has documented about 260 cases of attacks against members of the press, belying the government’s claim of upholding press freedom.
“The increasing number of violent incidents and slain journalists is alarming in itself. But beyond the figures is another troubling question—who bears the brunt of these attacks?
Based on NUJP data, more than 180 of the recorded cases involved media workers from local newspapers and radio stations, alternative media outlets and campus publications.
Accordingly, the record indicates that a significant share of media men who are targeted come from small and independent news organizations—outlets that often operate with limited resources, lower compensation and fewer protections for their workers.
“For them, the risks can be far greater than the pay,” the NUJP pointed out as it cited that “working outside the country’s largest newsrooms c(ould) mean reporting from communities where journalists sometimes have fewer institutional safeguards and where local political and economic interests can exert considerable pressure.”
Yet despite these vulnerabilities, most members of the media continue to cover stories that might otherwise receive little or no attention.
Jojo Sebial, a radio broadcaster from Caloocan City, told the Daily Chronicle that working as a freelance journalist means doing the same job with almost no resources and sometimes with far greater risks.
“We report from the communities where we live—where the people we cover are our neighbors and the officials we scrutinize are often people we personally know,” he enthused.
If one can recall, Percival ‘Percy Lapid’ Mabasa experienced the same difficulties and what he had earned from his devotion to informing the public were bullets that stopped his work with his brutal death.
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