MANILA — On the tenth year since the Ampatuan massacre, media groups pressed for the conviction of the main suspects in the murder of 58 individuals, of whom 32 were journalists.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) led a protest action in Manila, Nov. 23, with the call to convict principal suspects Andal Jr., Zaldy and Sajid Ampatuan, sons of the alleged mastermind Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Nonoy Espina, NUJP chairperson, underscored the importance of conviction in the Ampatuan massacre case. In his speech at the foot of Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola), Espina lamented that of the 187 media killings since 1986, only 17 had convictions.

Lawyer of the families of the victims Nena Santos earlier told the media she is confident that a guilty verdict would be handed down by the Quezon City local court. The promulgation of the case has been reset to Dec. 20 this year.

In a statement, Altermidya- People’s Alternative Media Network says anything less than conviction of the Ampatuan is “unacceptable.”

“The delivery of justice for Ampatuan Massacre victims will act like a beam of light shone into a great darkness that is the escalating climate of fear and impunity under the Duterte administration,” the group said.

In a separate statement, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) maintained that “convictions of the perpetrators and full recompense of the victims’ families will be a first step in reversing the long and tragic injustice.”

The Ampatuan massacre is considered as the single biggest attack on journalists and the worst election-related violence in Philippine history. The 58 victims were part of a convoy that would file the candidacy of Esmael Mangudadatu. About 100 armed men ambushed the convoy of vehicles and drove them to the top of a hill before killing them all.

Arts and media alliance Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity (LODI), meanwhile, said that the Ampatuan massacre “is also a reminder to all Filipinos of the wages of impunity, a state of conditions where the state colludes with oppressors, allowing them to wreak havoc in communities and then helping them to evade accountability.”

At the time of the massacre, the Ampatuans were close allies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Ampatuans claimed they ensured the 12-0 votes from Maguindanao in favor of Arroyo’s senatorial bets during the 2007 midterm elections.

LODI recalled that in 2018, the wedding of the daughter Zaldy Ampatuan featured a list of sponsors that included President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Sara, mayor of Davao, Duterte sidekick Bong Go; then peace adviser, Jesus Dureza; former Vice President Jejomar Binay and his daughter, Makati Mayor Abigail Binay-Campos; two senior officers and a several local government officials in the region.

Collective rage

During the Saturday’s program, Danilo Arao, journalism professor at University of the Philippines and associate editor of Bulatlat, said the protest “is not only to show our collective grief over the massacre but also our collective rage because justice has not been served.”

In his speech, Fernando “Jun” Sepe Jr., chairperson of the Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines, Inc. (PCP), noted that “rage has seemed to wane over the years.” Sepe called on his colleagues to continue condemning every attack on press freedom.

“Kapag naubos tayo, sino ang lalaban sa fake news, sa black propaganda? Kaya mahalagang ipagpatuloy ang galit para sa Ampatuan Massacre victims at bawat namamatay na mamamahayag,” (If all of us have been killed, who would counter fake news, black propaganda? That’s why it’s important that we continue feeling angry at the Ampatuan massacre and at every killing of journalist) Sepe said.

Fight againt impunity

Under the Duterte administration, 14 journalists have been gunned down, according to NUJP.

Bayan Muna Carlos Zarate, a former journalist and whose colleague at the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) Connie Brizuela was one of those killed, said the Ampatuan massacre is “emblematic of the extent of impunity in the country.”

Kenneth Guda, Altermidya spokesperson, said that journalists are subjected to different forms of attacks under the Duterte administration. He cited the charges against Rappler, the verbal threats against media outfits and the arrest and detention of Bacolod-based journalist Anne Krueger.

Espina maintained that journalists are officially targeted by administration’s counterinsurgency program, citing the red-tagging of NUJP and its members. Espina said he sees an escalation of attacks on the media.

Still, Espina said he takes courage from the glorious history of the Philippine media fighting the Marcos dictatorship.

Espina said that today,amid all the attacks, he sees the courage and determination of fellow journalists. (R. Olea/  )

Read Bulatlat’s previous stories here.

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By DEE AYROSO

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Nine battalions under three brigades are now operating in Eastern Visayas. Five battalions were deployed in Negros island. Three battalions and Special Action Forces were deployed in the Bicol region.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – About 150 soldiers went to the house of Roberto Pajares last April 1 in barangay Roxas, Lope de Vega, Northern Samar. These soldiers belonging to the Philippine Army’s 43rd Infantry Battalion led by a certain Lt. Marasigan ordered Pajares to surrender.

The 59-year-old farmer was shocked. “Why should I surrender? I did not do anything wrong,” Pajares told Bulatlat in an interview.

The soldiers insisted Pajares was the commander of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area. He denied the accusation, saying he is just a farmer planting palay, root crops and banana.

Last Sept. 20 (or more than five months after), the soldiers came back, this time with local village officials. Pajares was told he has been declared persona non grata. He was told to leave his wife’s hometown immediately. Fearing for their safety, Pajares, his wife, six children and one grandchild left and migrated to his own hometown in nearby Las Navas.

The same problem hounded him in Las Navas, however, as soldiers have also encamped at the center of their community.

In other parts of Samar and Leyte, and in the provinces of Bicol and Negros island, farmers like Pajares find themselves targets of the military’s counterinsurgency operations. The three areas were cited in President Duterte’s Memorandum Order No. 32, issued exactly a year ago, and which purportedly aims to quell “lawless violence.”

Nine battalions under three brigades are now operating in Eastern Visayas. Five battalions were deployed in Negros island. Three battalions and Special Action Forces were deployed in the Bicol region.

Instead of quelling lawless violence, the deployment of more troops in these provinces sowed terror. In barangay Capoto-an, Las Navas, soldiers of the 20th Infantry Battalion dropped three bombs right in the center of the village at around 5 a.m. last Oct. 26, according to a factsheet prepared by human rights group Katungod-Sinirangang Bisaya. Strafing of houses followed suit and minutes later, soldiers barged into the homes of farmers.

In one of the accounts, soldiers went inside the house of Nerissa (real name withheld for security) and destroyed clothes, sleeping mat, farm tools such as bolo and even kitchen utensils. Soldiers also took her husband’s money amounting to P9,000. Nerissa’s family and 23 other families fled after the incident.

The elementary school stopped operations since then. Students and even teachers were traumatized by the bombings, according to Baby Senobio, leader of Northern Samar Small Farmers Association (NSSFA). Senobio told Bulatlat classes have not yet resumed.

Like Pajares, Senobio has also been declared persona non grata by the Municipal Peace and Order Council. Before this, Senobio and her organization NSSFA have been tagged as communists by the Army’s 20th Infantry Battalion in its Facebook page.

The practice of declaring NPA and perceived communist supporters as persona non grata has become common. In Bicol the NPA has been declared persona non grata in 209 villages. In Eastern Visayas, 123 local government units issued the same declaration. The Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental provincial governments also issued similar resolutions.

The Regional Task Forces to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict, the counterparts of the national task force, are behind the moves. Like Memorandum Order No. 32, the creation of such task forces has been mandated by Duterte’s Executive Order no. 70. 

In a report, Marco Valbuena, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) public information officer, said that “the majority of the officials signed the declaration out of fear of military reprisal.” The CPP has laughed off the tag, saying that despite the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ propaganda drive, “the NPA continues to enjoy the deep and wide support of the people in myriad forms.”

However, civilians like Pajares and Senobio ended up included in the government’s lists. The red tagging has resulted in extra-judicial killings and other forms of human rights violations.

Since the issuance Memorandum Order No. 32, Katungod-Sinirangang Bisaya documented 27 victims of extra-judicial killings, most of them farmers. In Bicol, the regional chapter of Karapatan documented 10 cases of killings. Negros was even worse, with 45 civilians gunned down in just one year.

At least 62 civilians were also arrested and charged with trumped-up charges from Nov. 23, 2018 to Nov. 22, 2019, according to human rights group Karapatan.

Faking it

Besides the killings and arrests, the phenomenon of fake surrenders is also notable in areas covered by Memorandum Order No. 32.

Rey Alburo of Karapatan-Negros recalled the incident last Aug. 30 in Escalante City where 7,000 farmers were falsely presented to the media as rebel returnees. “The farmers were invited by their respective barangay chairpersons to attend a livelihood program launch. They had no idea they were to be introduced as NPAs returning to the fold,” Alburo told Bulatlat in Filipino.

Alburo said the farmers were made to sign documents stating they were former rebels in exchange for P5,000, two kilos of rice, two cans of sardines and two packs of instant noodles. According to the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), each rebel returnee should receive P50,000 in livelihood assistance and P15,000 immediate assistance.

In barangay San Miguel, Las Navas, Northern Samar, farmers accused of being communist supporters were ordered to present themselves at the military camp. Alex Abinguna of Katungod-SB said the soldiers were using psywar tactics, telling the farmers that their neighbors tipped them off. “They were being forced to admit they were NPA,” Abinguna said.

In Bicol, Karapatan’s local chapter documented an incident of bombing and strafing last Aug. 14 in barangay Lidong, Caramoan on the pretext of a “fake encounter.” The Army’s 83rd Infantry Battalion and the Philippine Air Force under 9th Infantry Division launched an-hour long airstrike, claiming there were NPA guerrillas in the area. The National Democratic Front-Bicol issued a statement refuting the military’s claims.

Nida Barcenas, secretary general of Karapatan-Bicol, told Bulatlat that more than 100 individuals fled after the incident.

Insurgency-free?

Barcenas, a long-time human rights defender, said the Duterte administration’s counterinsurgency policy is no different from previous ones and is likely to fail too.

“They are not winning the hearts and minds of the people,” Barcenas said, referring to the military. “The more they harass civilians, the more they are hated by the locals.”

Farmers like Pajares and Senobio want the military out of their communities.

Meanwhile, the CPP, labeled Duterte and his military as cowards.

“Unable to hit against the NPA, Duterte’s armed minions have directed his wrath against civilians who the AFP have red-tagged and accused of being sympathizers of the NPA,” the CPP said.

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Nonoy Espina of the NUJP called on state security forces to understand what media do — that they are being critical not just because it wants to but because it needs to as the fourth estate.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A day before the tenth year commemoration of the gruesome Ampatuan massacre, a roadmap on journalist safety has been launched.

Journalist safety has been an unresolved issue in the country. Media killings in the Philippines have reached its height with the Ampatuan massacre that took place 10 years ago, which left 58 killed, 32 of them were journalists and media workers.

Under the Duterte administration, 13 journalists have been killed. Cases of intimidation, threats, red-tagging and cyber attacks have also been documented.

No less than the president, his alter-egos, and state security forces, too, have issued public pronouncements, red-tagging members of the media.

Red-tagging has been known to lead to graver rights abuses, including killings, which Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility deputy executive director Luis Teodoro dubbed as the “worst form of censorship.”

The question, however, arising from the panel discussion is whether the national plan of action can finally provide a “common ground” and “clear the air” towards paving a safe working condition for journalists in the Philippines.

A first of its kind

Dubbed as “a first of its kind in the world,” the plan of action was developed through multi-stakeholder consultations with media, government, and members of the academe, and local and international press freedom groups.

Consultations, too, were sought from concerned government agencies, including the Philippine military and the police forces.

In fact, International Media Support head for Asia Lars Bestle said the media and journalism community did not know what a national plan of action could look like until today.

Adhering to the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, the Philippine Plan provided a roadmap for addressing five areas that were deemed crucial to improving journalist safety for the next years until 2024.

These are: integrity and professionalism, conducive working conditions, safety and protection mechanisms, criminal justice system, and the public information, journalism education, and research.

It also adopted the “4Ps” paradigm used in the UN Trafficking in Persons protocol, referring to Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership.

“Crafting the Philippine Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists gives us a sense of optimism that we can address the scourges of press freedom in the country. Not to plan is to surrender our fate. Not to plan should not be an option for the Philippines and many other countries worldwide experiencing similar challenges,” said Ramon Tuazon, president of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC), the lead agency that crafted the roadmap.

Tuazon said the stakeholders they worked with “may represent diverse interests and backgrounds, but we have a common goal: to safeguard press freedom in the Philippines.”

He added that the process of crafting the plan “sought to break down the walls between sectors and within sectors at the national and community levels.”

UP Mass Communication associate professor and Bulatlat associate editor Danilo Arao, for his part, said that “partnership” does not mean “absolution” of those guilty – “not just individually but also institutional.”

Sincerity needed

To carry out the plans stipulated in the roadmap, however, the need to establish a “common ground” and for state forces to understand why media needs to be critical seemed to be a strong sentiment during the launch.

No less than Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana said during the panel discussion that the government needs to be sincere in protecting journalists by ensuring that perpetrators will be held to account.

Abraham Agamata of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security said they were able to interact with various stakeholders despite limited budget, including the pushing for the proposed law on media workers welfare as its concrete output.

He also said that apart from government agencies, media groups were also part of the task force. This was later clarified by veteran journalist Nonoy Espina, also head of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, that they were merely invited as resource persons.

The NUJP has disengaged with the task force because they could no longer find a “common ground.” But Espina said NUJP remains open to an “honest” engagement, especially in light of the Philippine Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists.

Espina called on state security forces to understand what media do — that they are being critical not just because it wants to but because it needs to as the fourth estate.

Challenges ahead

Arao said the challenge now is to expose media practitioners not just skills-wise but also on journalist safety, with state forces as among the perpetrators.

Arao said it is important that educational institutions teach students to become critical, even though they are at times red-baited. He added that the academe also plays an important role in shaping media literate students.

These days, after all, may be comparable to the dark years of press during the martial law rule of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Arao said.

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