Grieving for Press Freedom

(Published in Zamboanga Today on 17 April 2008.)

Many persons seem to be armed with generalizations on the press, at times verbally equipped with foul and demeaning words towards mediamen who are rigorously reporting to make a living, to fulfill a commitment to voice out the truth, or to simply let journalism live on because such is their passion.

Even among members of the Fourth Estate, especially those with crab mentality, the tooth-and-nail competition exists--as some try to put down others who are also doing their job, forgetting all the while that they have their own backyards to clean up as well.

Such is a sad fact, but it is also a challenging point. Those among us who want to live on will have to be strong in principle, and above all, steadfast in faith, for us to survive in this gruelling profession.

Below is the Statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in the wake of the killing of journalist Benefredo Acabal. The publication by Zamboanga Today is our way of expressing our condolences to the family as we share the grief of many Filipino newsmen who have given up their lives as they voice out truth.

'Today, we lay to rest the first journalist slain in 2008 and the 56^th under the Arroyo administration. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines joins the family, friends and colleagues of newspaper publisher and columnist Benefredo Acabal in mourning the murder of another member of the Philippine media.

Acabal published the tabloid Pilipino Newsmen and wrote a column under the name Freddie Yanco. Before putting up his own paper two years ago, he wrote for other tabloids, among them Toro, Saksi and Puntos. His murder orphaned four children, aged four to nine years old.

Acabal was brazenly chased and gunned down by a lone gunman in front of eyewitnesses in Pasig on April 7. While police investigations have yet to conclude if Acabal's murder was related to his work, his friends and colleagues strongly believed it was. Acabal reportedly received several threats prior to his death.

The manner of his killing, in the heart of Metro Manila no less, highlights the level of impunity the murder of journalists and activists in this country has reached, and why the death toll under the Arroyo government – which long ago had already established itself as the highest under any administration, including the 14-year Marcos dictatorship – continues to rise.

While we recognize that there is no indication that the murder of journalists is part of official policy – unlike what international human rights experts have observed about the extra-judicial killings of dissenters – we contend that lack of official action on the slayings of our colleagues and the government's repeated attempts to muzzle the press have emboldened those who would seek to exercise the ultimate censorship.

For so long as this administration fails to arrest, prosecute and convict the murderers, for so long as it persists to threaten us with laws designed to curtail the exercise of our calling, the blood of our colleagues will stain this government as much as it does the actual killers and masterminds.

We call on the public, our audiences and readers, to stand up with us to demand respect and protection for press freedom and the people's right to know. Whatever the imperfections of the Philippine press are, it continues to serve as a crucial vehicle for the people to get the information they need to make informed decisions about their individual and collective lives.

As we prepare to commemorate World Press Freedom Day next month – commemorate, not celebrate – we once again declare, we will not be cowed.' (References: Joe Torres Jr., chairperson, Rowena Paraan, secretary-general)