Impunity Inhibits Journalism in the Philippines

By Joel Simon and Sheila Coronel
Committee to Protect Journalists

At a recent conference on press freedom and impunity held in Manila, attorney Nena Santos declared, “My heart bleeds for justice for a friend and children of all the victims.”

That friend was Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a crusading investigative reporter from Mindanao whose cold-blooded murder in March 2005 made her a press freedom martyr in the Philippines and around the world. Attorney Santos achieved a breakthrough in the Philippines when she helped convict the gunmen who carried out the killing. She now has her sights set on the masterminds.

The Esperat case has been justly hailed a milestone in the fight against impunity. What is shocking, however, is that such convictions are so rare. There are 24 other murders carried out since 2000 in the Philippines in which no one has been brought to justice.

This dubious record helped earn the Philippines a top ranking in the Impunity Index devised by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as a measure for assessing the safety and protection of journalists worldwide. CPJ released the findings of the index today [WEDNESDAY] at the United Nations in New York. In fact, the only countries in the world that have a worse record of bringing journalists to justice have endured years of violent conflict – Iraq, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Colombia.

This nearly perfect record of impunity in the Philippines has had a devastating impact on the free flow of information and has inhibited coverage of human rights and corruption issues in the communities affected by violence.

Now, a campaign being waged by the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists and supported by CPJ seeks to address this terrible record. Using documentation, advocacy, and public awareness we hope to shine a light on this appalling record and help push the government to action.

Indeed, the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has taken an important step by creating a new division with the National Police called Task Force USIG which is charged with investigating the killings of journalists and activists. President Arroyo has also spoken out publicly and condemned the violence against the press.

These measures, however, do not suffice. They have not stopped the killings nor have they led to the conviction of journalist’s murderers.

The Arroyo government cannot rely on heroic lawyers like Nena Santos. Instead, it must take direct responsibility for solving these crimes. There is only one way for the Philippines to reduce its ranking on the CPJ’s Impunity Index, and that is by bringing the killers to justice. CPJ will be updating this list in 2009. We will be looking for results.

Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists; Sheila Coronel is a member of CPJ’s board of directors and the director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting at Columbia University in New York