CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Sixteen years after the world’s deadliest single-day attack on journalists, media practitioners are set to gather on Monday, Nov. 24, to demand continued vigilance and justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) – Cagayan de Oro Chapter, in partnership with the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), will lead a candlelighting ceremony at 4 p.m. at the Press Freedom Monument on the Misamis Oriental Provincial Capitol grounds.
The activity honors the 58 individuals, including 32 media workers, brutally killed in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009 — a tragedy that NUJP-CdO chairperson Franck Dick Rosete called a “stark reminder” of the dangers journalists face in the country.
Beyond remembrance, local media leaders are urging the community to view press freedom as a non-negotiable necessity.
“We must insist — loudly, persistently — that freedom of expression is not a luxury but a foundation. Press freedom is not negotiable but essential,” the COPC statement reads in part.
COPC President Froilan Gallardo challenged the local press to “turn grief into action and turn remembrance into resolve,” stressing the need for legal safeguards to protect independent media and institutions that hold power accountable.
Engaging the next generation
Organizers will also host a discussion with young reporters and campus journalists at 2 p.m., prior to the candlelighting ceremony.
Rosete said the session aims to revisit the facts of the massacre and educate emerging journalists on the importance of defending media rights amid continuing challenges in the landscape.
To amplify the call for full justice for the victims, organizers opened the commemoration activities to media practitioners, students, and concerned citizens. /mcm