WHO: National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, media organizations and press freedom groups, and families of victims of Ampatuan Massacre

WHEN: May 23 (Thursday)

         Exhibit: 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Candle lighting: 6:00 pm

WHERE: National Cathedral of St Mary and St John, 277 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City (between St Luke’s Medical Center and Trinity University)

Journalists and media groups will mark the 42nd month since the Maguindanao Massacre on Thursday (May 23) in New Manila, Quezon City, with a one-day exhibit opening in the morning and a candle-lighting ceremony later in the evening.

The travelling exhibit titled “Never Forget: The Ampatuan Massacre” will have a one-day showing at the National Cathedral of St Mary and St John, 277 E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City.

Never Forget has been displayed in schools, churches, and government institutions such as the Congress and Senate. The exhibit shows how the nation moves forward from the gruesome murder that exposes how impunity works at its worst. The exhibit features photos by Jes Aznar, Nonoy Espina, and Veejay Villafranca, among others.

Media groups led by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), as well as journalists from different media outfits, will cap off the commemoration through a short program at 6:00 pm. Journalists will light candles and offer prayers to commemorate the 32 colleagues who died in the brutal murder.

Updates on the case will also be given, and families of the massacre victims will give messages.

On Nov. 23, 2009, police and militiamen supposedly led by Andal Ampatuan Jr. waylaid a convoy that was supposed to file the candidacy of incumbent Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. The ambush led to the death of 58 people, including 32 journalists, and has since been known as the worst case of election-related violence in recent years. The massacre has also been known as the single most brazen attack against journalists and media workers.

Of the 196 suspects, 103 have been arrested and 87 have been arraigned. Two of the suspects have died, one in an apparent suicide and another, in a recent gunfight with police authorities. So far, of the masterminds and other suspects, none has been convicted.

FOR REFERENCE

Rupert Mangilit
Sec. General
0916 222 1055

Rowena Paraan
Chair

Eladio Perfecto, NUJP Northern Samar chairperson, reported policemen deployed in the area barred him and other journalists from entering the canvassing area minutes before it resumed at 9:00 am, allegedly upon orders of Atty. Antonio Gulay Jr., Comelec provincial election supervisor in Northern Samar.

When asked why mediamen were barred even if they bore accreditation IDs from Comelec, the police said Gulay cited no reason, and they were only following the election official’s instruction.

Reporters tried to personally talk to Gulay, but he was nowhere to be found in the Capitol, Perfecto said.

Perfecto said they were only allowed to enter the canvassing area at around 11:45 am, a few hours after he alerted fellow journalists in Manila about the incident. But at that time, the election returns from six municipalities have already been canvassed.

“May lumabas na lalaki para sabihing pwede na kaming mag-cover. May tumawag daw kay Gulay from Comelec Manila. (A man approached us, saying we can already cover. The Comelec in Manila instructed Gulay to allow coverage),” he said.

This was not the first time Gulay was unaccommodating to journalists, Perfecto said. He was told Gulay would bar coverage and would usually refuse or avoid interviews when he was still provincial supervisor in Southern Leyte.

The reporters cried foul over Gulay’s action, Perfecto said. The incident, a Tacloban-based reporter said, was a “clear violation of press freedom,” he added.

FOR REFERENCE

Rupert Mangilit
Sec. General, NUJP
Safety Officer, NUJP-IFJ Media Safety Office

Rowena Paraan
Chairperson
Executive Coordinator, NUJP-IFJ Media Safety Office

On Sunday, the eve of the 2013 midterm elections, two incidents happened that highlight both the risks Filipino journalists face in the course of their work and the importance of adhering to the ethics of the profession to keep ourselves safe.

Early Sunday, the Quezon provincial chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines was alerted to news that a colleague, Melinda Jennifer Glefonea, reporter and anchor of the “Apat Dapat” program on Edge Radio 103.1 FM in Candelaria, had been abducted.

Police said Glefonea was eating at a restaurant around 4 a.m. when she was seized at gunpoint by two men whose faces were concealed with handkerchiefs and forced into a silver Toyota Innova that sped away. It was an incident seen by witnesses.

However, later in the day, the Quezon chapter’s former chairman, Delfin Mallari Jr., confirmed that Glefonea admitted staging the incident, supposedly to preempt an actual threatening incident.

Mallari said Glefonea, still in hiding, told Candelaria police chief Superintendent Francisco Ebreo that she would not surface until she is provided police escorts. He added that Glefonea also admitted to Mitch Regondola, her co-host at Edge Radio, that she had made up the incident. Regondola told NUJP Quezon she did not know of Glefonea’s plan but was initially convinced the supposed abduction was true since her co-host had been receiving threatening calls and text messages.

NUJP Quezon said Glefonea does public relations work for a local political candidate, and has been seen using one of the candidate’s vehicles.

Later Sunday morning, the NUJP chapter in Ozamis City said that the crew of a cable television program bankrolled by the local government had been assaulted and their equipment destroyed or confiscated by Vice Mayor Rolando Romero, who is running for mayor under the Liberal Party, and his aides.

The Ozamis chapter said Romero also threatened other journalists who witnessed the incident.

Ozamis City chairman Neptali Batolenio told the NUJP-IFJ Mindanao Safety Office that Ellena Pelare, reporter of “Ronda Balita,” was seeking to interview Romero when he arrived in Barangay Don Consuelo around 11 a.m. However, Romero suddenly seized her microphone and threw it into the sea while a female aide snatched the Canon 3CCD camera of cameraman Melito Opena and smashed it on the ground.

Romero then drew his pistol in Opena but the weapon jammed. Another aide, armed with a rifle, then assaulted the cameraman as Romero seized the Nikon D3000 camera of anchorman Danny Pilar as he shouted threats at the journalists watching the scene.

Later, Representative Loreto Leo Ocampos, who is seeking reelection under the LP, sent Batolenio a text message claiming Romero had been “provoked” by the Ronda Balita crew and merely “defended himself.”

Although we are in no position to ascertain whether the threat Glefonea sought to preempt by staging her own kidnapping is true or not, the Quezon incident is a clear example of how the murky ethics that often inform the practice of our profession can place colleagues in dangerous situations and push them into taking such desperate, if foolhardy, measures in an attempt to extricate themselves from harm.

Equally disturbing is the fact that by staging her own abduction, Glefonea may have put other colleagues in equal danger.

As for the Ozamis incident, what Romero and his aides did is not only condemnable, it was clearly criminal and they should be prosecuted. Indeed, we demand that the Liberal Party take the lead in doing so or forever give up any pretense about laying down the “tuwid na daan.”

Indeed, it was no mere assault. Had Romero’s weapon not misfired, it could have been another media killing.

Whatever “provocation” the Ronda Balita crew may have committed, as Rep. Ocampos claims, even if true, can never justify such a reaction. That Ocampos can even try to justify this outrage indicates how little regard for the law and for press freedom he and his ilk have.

Still, the incident does highlight why it is important for journalists to maintain their fairness and objectivity, regardless of who they work for. It can be risky enough for journalists to just be identified with an outfit that a politician drunk on power regards as the enemy without acting in a manner that tends to confirm that they are, indeed, the enemy and, thus, invite hostile action.

As we all go out to cover the May 13 elections, let us keep ourselves safe and comport ourselves with utmost professionalism as we perform our duty of delivering timely and accurate information to our people.

For Reference
Rowena Paraan
Chairperson

–