For the 16th consecutive year, the Philippines has managed to remain among the top countries in the planet where the killers of journalists can get away with murder, as confirmed by its number 8 rank in the latest Global Impunity Index released by New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
If it is any consolation, our country recorded a slight improvement from placing number 7 over the past two years, which isn’t the result of hard work or determination on part of our government, but in having Haiti enter the index which ranks countries based on the number of unsolved journalist murders in the past decade as a percentage of the country’s population.
The Philippines is one of the 6 countries that have consistently appeared in the Global Impunity Index since it was launched in 2008, along with Somalia, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, and India.
From 14 unsolved murders in the country last year, the number rose to 20 in the latest index following the killings of Renato Blanco in Negros Oriental on Sept. 18, 2022; Percy Mabasa in Las Piñas on Oct. 3, 2022, and Cris Bundoquin in Oriental Mindoro on May 31, 2023.
Four other cases not included in the previous index also made the list after the motive behind the killings has been determined are Virgilio Maganes in Pangasinan on Nov. 10, 2020; Orlando Dinoy in Davao Del Sur on Oct. 30, 2021; Audrey Estrada in Lanao del Norte on March 17, 2022; and Frederico Gempesaw in Cagayan de Oro on June 29, 2022.
Thankfully for the Philippines, the case of freelance photographer Mario Sy in General Santos City on Aug. 1, 20213 is no longer considered by the index as it is outside the 10-year period being covered.
Stating the obvious, the CPJ said “the Philippines remains a dangerous place to work as a reporter, especially for radio journalists.”
“While Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a more conciliatory approach toward the media since becoming president in June 2022, CPJ reported that a culture of self-censorship persists and Marcos’ change in tone has not yet been accompanied by substantive actions to undo the damage wrought to press freedom under the Rodrigo Duterte administration,” it added.
A country cannot count on lip service and the passage of time for the general population and indexes with a 10-year horizon to forget the unsolved cases that are the result of the blatant impunity that its government has somehow failed to address, despite having its attention called by local and international organizations.
How much longer do journalists have to look behind their shoulders in this country where so many of their colleagues have been murdered, while impunity allows the perpetrators to smugly walk among us? Based on the existing track record of our government, it looks like things are going to stay that way for a long time.*
