This city’s chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP-CDO) is pushing back against recent remarks from Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Jose Torres Jr. that downplayed the extent of media killings and rejected the idea that impunity continues to endanger the press.
NUJP-CDO said that while not all journalist deaths are immediately tied directly to their work, every case should be presumed work-related until evidence proves otherwise-especially in a country where threats and attacks against the press rarely lead to real accountability.
NUJP-CDO Chair Franck Rosete pointed out that decades of unsolved killings, delayed prosecutions, and missing masterminds point to a system where silencing a journalist often goes unpunished.
They noted that nearly half of the roughly 200 journalist killings recorded since 1986 remain officially labeled ‘not work-related,’ a distinction they say glosses over the failure to bring those responsible to justice.
The 2009 Ampatuan massacre-the single deadliest attack on journalists in history-serves as the most chilling example.
Thirty-two media workers were murdered in Maguindanao. It took 10 years before a court convicted some of those involved, and dozens of suspects are still at large.
International watchdogs continue to flag the Philippines for its dangerous conditions.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ latest Global Impunity Index ranked the country ninth worldwide, marking the 17th consecutive year that the Philippines has appeared on the list.
The NUJP-CDO said it welcomes efforts that include a new agreement between PTFoMS and the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which aims to prevent police harassment and protect journalists’ rights.
Rosete warned, though, that those steps will only matter if they lead to swift investigations and accountability for every attack.
On Friday, after the event at Napolcom, Torres said there is no culture of impunity in the country with respect to media killings.
‘Minimizing the problem does not make journalists safer,’ the union reads, urging authorities to acknowledge the threat the media faces rather than deny it.
The path to protecting the press, NUJP-CDO said, starts with ending impunity and ensuring both the triggermen and the masterminds are brought to justice.