The media killings persist.
Radio broadcaster Juan Jumalon, known to his listeners as DJ Johnny Walker, was shot dead during his live morning broadcast on November 5. Jumalon is the fourth broadcast journalist killed under the Marcos Jr. administration.
Justice for all the slain and peace for the living journalists remain elusive as fear remains blanketing one of the most dangerous places in the world for press workers. Beyond statements and promises, the Philippine government has done little to comfort this fear and little to actually protect the media practitioners in the country from harm and violence.
It would seem that years of sitting at the lowest rungs of various press freedom rankings have caused the country to become desensitized to media-related attacks. Impunity has become the default answer to these killings, not justice. Though overt attacks on media entities and workers during former President Rodrigo Duterte's term have somewhat calmed, the harassment, threats, and killings have not slowed and lulled.
It was too early when Rappler CEO Maria Ressa said that she saw a lifting of fear felt under the Marcos Jr. administration. In fact, the cases of media-related violence far exceed the number of attacks and threats in any year during Duterte’s presidency.
For instance, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) documented 75 attacks on journalists between June 30, 2022, and April 30, 2023, when Duterte's successor, President Bongbong Marcos, took office. CMFR has also found that 41 of these attacks were perpetrated by state agents from the national government, police, military, and even local governments.
Marcos Jr. claims that such occurrences have no place in a democracy. He claims this while continuously doing nothing of note to enshrine and ensure the safety of journalists in the country. Furthermore, Marcos Jr. is still trying to distort his father's gruesome legacy in the country's history.
In addition, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Philippine journalists still feel the "repressive machinery" that Duterte installed during his term as president. The government's treatment of journalists has not been as overtly hostile as under the previous administration. However, the fear, trauma, and evil that Marcos’ name bears, along with his extremely lacking commitment to keeping the press safe, rings and echoes still as loudly as Duterte's direct hostility.
An attack on one journalist is an attack on all. Worldwide, journalists seem to be as threatened as they are in the Philippines if not more. State-sanctioned attacks on journalists globally have not ceased. As of the latest data from Alegria Press Service, 48 journalists have been killed in Zionist Israel's ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.
Moreover, reporters in the besieged city have been working tirelessly to tell the truth about the situation amid the rampant whitewashing campaign spearheaded by Israel and its imperialist Western backers.
It is these attacks, both local and international, that call for the solidarity of the media against oppressive forces. We must demand justice for Juan Jumalon's killing, a cessation of these brutalities, and freedom for all jailed journalists. Likewise, we must show support and amplify the voices of the heroes in the field of oppression in Gaza to combat the Zionist war and propaganda.
Journalism today faces a multitude of problems both from within and outside the field. While these problems have been persisting since the dawn of the field itself, it has now become the enduring duty of current journalists to keep the fight steady and strong. The battle against oppression and suppression must unite all of us to continue fighting for the truth and justice until we can all truly speak the truth to power without hesitation and fear.
Article: Christian John P. Argallon
Cartoon: Timothy Andrei M. Milambiling
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