Year of infamy
Year of infamy
Updated 00:33am (Mla time) Dec 10, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 10, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
ON DEC. 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, journalists in the Philippines have come together to remind their readers, viewers and listeners of Article 19 of the declaration, to which our country was among the original signatories: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
About 100 media organizations and individuals have signed a pooled statement drafted by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Timed for the observance of International Human Rights Day, the statement points out that while journalists in other countries are jailed, or are subject to harsh censorship and media laws, media practitioners in the Philippines are paying an even greater -- indeed, the ultimate -- price: They are being murdered with impunity.
The statement, drafted by the NUJP, says: "The Philippine press will remember 2004 as a year of infamy. We have lost 13 colleagues in what could be work-related murders, the highest number in history." The concern expressed by Filipino media people is shared by their colleagues the world over. Reporters Without Borders has expressed its deep concern. After Iraq, the Philippines was the world's most dangerous country for journalists, the group says, adding that the Philippine government must "urgently come up with some fresh approaches to halt this wave of violence against the press."
In condemning the killings, media practitioners point out that press freedom is both a universal and specifically Filipino right, "enshrined in the Constitution, not because a special sector demands special privilege, but because it helps ensure adherence to all other basic civil liberties." Indeed, the statement adds that "media groups are aware that our profession does not suffer alone. We also condemn the killings of judges, lawyers, anti-corruption advocates and human rights workers nationwide."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in leading the government observance of "National Human Rights Consciousness Week," says the "worst violators of human rights" are from the New People's Army. That is her view. However, such a view ignores the fact that rebels of any stripe operate outside the law, while the government is duty-bound not just to enforce the law, but also to live according to the law. And the most basic law of all is the Constitution. When a government fails to both protect its citizens, and punish the perpetrators of high crimes, it joins the ranks of those living beyond the pale of the law.
The President, speaking in Malacañang, praised the Commission on Human Rights and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their "quiet but unremitting cooperation in the human rights education of our military personnel." She must have forgotten recent cases of callous treatment, if not outright intimidation, of media people by the military, and the remarkable ineptness of the police in investigating and apprehending the murders of media men. The President should have read Human Rights Commission (CHR) Chair Purificacion Quisumbing's report saying that 33 percent of complaints about human rights violations filed with the CHR were allegedly committed by the police, while local officials and employees accounted for another 13 percent of cases. Of the 1,001 cases filed with the CHR from January to September this year, 812 were cases involving allegations of civil rights violations.
What the Philippine media are calling for is what every Filipino citizen is entitled to: freedom from intimidation and harassment; the chance to practice one's livelihood undeterred by terrorism; the swift and effective prosecution of crimes; and the safety of witnesses and other people who can help in the prosecution of cases. We insist on what everyone should expect and demand: a government whose officials, soldiers and policemen protect the people, instead of harassing them or proving powerless to render them aid and justice. The recourse of all decent people should be the courts, the ventilation of public opinion, never the assassin's gun.
Updated 00:33am (Mla time) Dec 10, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the December 10, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
ON DEC. 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today, journalists in the Philippines have come together to remind their readers, viewers and listeners of Article 19 of the declaration, to which our country was among the original signatories: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
About 100 media organizations and individuals have signed a pooled statement drafted by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). Timed for the observance of International Human Rights Day, the statement points out that while journalists in other countries are jailed, or are subject to harsh censorship and media laws, media practitioners in the Philippines are paying an even greater -- indeed, the ultimate -- price: They are being murdered with impunity.
The statement, drafted by the NUJP, says: "The Philippine press will remember 2004 as a year of infamy. We have lost 13 colleagues in what could be work-related murders, the highest number in history." The concern expressed by Filipino media people is shared by their colleagues the world over. Reporters Without Borders has expressed its deep concern. After Iraq, the Philippines was the world's most dangerous country for journalists, the group says, adding that the Philippine government must "urgently come up with some fresh approaches to halt this wave of violence against the press."
In condemning the killings, media practitioners point out that press freedom is both a universal and specifically Filipino right, "enshrined in the Constitution, not because a special sector demands special privilege, but because it helps ensure adherence to all other basic civil liberties." Indeed, the statement adds that "media groups are aware that our profession does not suffer alone. We also condemn the killings of judges, lawyers, anti-corruption advocates and human rights workers nationwide."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in leading the government observance of "National Human Rights Consciousness Week," says the "worst violators of human rights" are from the New People's Army. That is her view. However, such a view ignores the fact that rebels of any stripe operate outside the law, while the government is duty-bound not just to enforce the law, but also to live according to the law. And the most basic law of all is the Constitution. When a government fails to both protect its citizens, and punish the perpetrators of high crimes, it joins the ranks of those living beyond the pale of the law.
The President, speaking in Malacañang, praised the Commission on Human Rights and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their "quiet but unremitting cooperation in the human rights education of our military personnel." She must have forgotten recent cases of callous treatment, if not outright intimidation, of media people by the military, and the remarkable ineptness of the police in investigating and apprehending the murders of media men. The President should have read Human Rights Commission (CHR) Chair Purificacion Quisumbing's report saying that 33 percent of complaints about human rights violations filed with the CHR were allegedly committed by the police, while local officials and employees accounted for another 13 percent of cases. Of the 1,001 cases filed with the CHR from January to September this year, 812 were cases involving allegations of civil rights violations.
What the Philippine media are calling for is what every Filipino citizen is entitled to: freedom from intimidation and harassment; the chance to practice one's livelihood undeterred by terrorism; the swift and effective prosecution of crimes; and the safety of witnesses and other people who can help in the prosecution of cases. We insist on what everyone should expect and demand: a government whose officials, soldiers and policemen protect the people, instead of harassing them or proving powerless to render them aid and justice. The recourse of all decent people should be the courts, the ventilation of public opinion, never the assassin's gun.
posted by Dante at 2:12 PM
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