THE election-related massacre of at least a dozen journalists in Maguindanao province on Monday is the deadliest single event recorded for the press worldwide.
A partial list of fatalities published Wednesday afternoon by inquirer.net contained the names of 25 journalists and media workers.
Research by the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists showed the death toll in Monday’s carnage exceeded the fatalities in the attack on the Al-Shaabiya television station in Baghdad in 2006. Eleven were killed in the incident, five of them journalists and the rest media support workers.
The other deadly events, according to CPJ, occurred in the 1990s: A car bomb killed five journalists for Eenadu Television, or E-TV, who were on assignment in Hyderabad, India in 1997, while four died during a gun battle between Communist hardliners and Russian special forces over control of Ostankino Television Center in Moscow in 1993.
“Never in the history of journalism have the news media suffered such a heavy loss of life in one day,” Reporters Without Borders said.
The Philippines has earned the reputation of being one of the most dangerous and murderous places for journalists in the world. Before the Maguindanao attack, the Center for Media and Responsibility, a local media monitoring group, had reported 80 journalists killed in the line of duty since democracy was restored in 1986. Of these, 42 or more than half died during the eight-year Arroyo administration.
Majority of the journalist murders have gone unsolved despite the creation by President Arroyo of a unit—Task Force 211—to look into the killings, the result of what media watchers say is a “culture of impunity.”
For the second year in a row, the Philippines figured among the top countries in the CPJ’s Global Impunity Index because of the cases that have not resulted in convictions. The country recorded 24 unsolved journalist murders from Jan. 1, 1999 to Dec. 31, 2008.
Following the Maguindanao massacre, Reporters Without Borders said: “We have often condemned the culture of impunity and violence in the Philippines, especially Mindanao. This time, the frenzied violence of thugs working for corrupt politicians has resulted in an incomprehensible bloodbath. We call for a strong reaction from the local and national authorities.”
The journalists killed in Maguindao were covering relatives and supporters of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Toto Mangudadatu who was about to file his gubernatorial candidacy in next year’s elections. Gunmen led by Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao, had kidnapped members of the convoy. Ampatuan is also running for the same position, hoping to succeed his father, the incumbent governor.
At least 46 bodies have been recovered, including that of Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn.
President Gloria Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao and promised a full investigation and prosecution of the killings.
Media groups like the CPJ cautioned that the state of emergency must not interfere with journalists seeking access and information to report on the killings.
“The Philippines has a long history of impunity in the case of the deaths of journalists — a history it had started to work to reverse in recent years. Now the country needs its press corps to fully cover this story of wanton political violence, which took so many lives, including those of journalists,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.
“The president might not be able to reverse the culture of violence that surrounds so much of political life in the Philippines, but she can certainly use this terrible incident to fight the impunity that surrounds journalists’ deaths,” he said.
Inquirer.net identified the slain journalists and media workers as:
- Ian Sublang – Gensan Newsprint
- Lea Dalmacio – Gensan Newsprint
- Gina Dela Cruz – Gensan Newsprint
- Marites Cabunes – Gensan Newsprint
- Bart Maravilla – Bombo Radyo
- Jhoy Duhay – Peoples Tonite
- Henry Araneta – DZRH Correspondent
- Andy Teodoro – Mindanao Inquirer
- Neneng Montano – Gensan Newsprint
- Alejandro Bong Reblado – UNTV
- Victor Nuñez – UNTV
- Mac– mac Amola – Gensan Newsprint
- Jimmy Cabello – Midland Review
- Councilor Razul Daud – SK Newspaper
- Joel Parcon – Prontera News
- Val Cachuela – Prontera News
- John Caniban
- Art Baloya – Punto Periodico
- Noel Decena – Punto Periodico
- Rany Razon – Punto Periodico
- Bienvenido Jun Legarta – Punto Periodico
- Jovy Legarta – Punto Periodico
- Rey Merisco – Punto Periodico
- Boyet Dela Cerna – Escalera News
- Art Mascardo – GSC
On Tuesday, the Commission on Human Rights issued the following statement on the massacre:
On the afternoon of 23 November 2009, the Commission on Human Rights began receiving reports from various sources that an entourage of supporters and family member of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Ishmael “Toto” Mangudadatu had been abducted and executed en masse by a group of almost a hundred armed men. The entourage was accompanied by a large group of journalists covering the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) of Vice Mayor Mangudadatu, who is running for governor in the Province of Maguindanao in the 2010 Elections.
The incumbent Vice Mayor had sent a contingent led by his 36-year-old wife Genalyn Tiamzon, his sisters, Eden, the mayor of Mangudadato town, and Farina, accompanied by female legal counsels Cynthia Oquendo and Connie Brizuela. Genalyn, together with the rest of the entourage had been sent to file the CoC in behalf of Mangudadatu at the provincial office of the Commission on Elections in Shariff Aguak town.
En route to the COMELEC office in Shariff Aguak, convoy headed by Genalyn was stopped by an estimated hundred armed men. The gruesome aftermath of the abduction was discovered in the village of Masalay in Datu Abdullah Sangki town, two kilometers away from where the convoy had been stopped. At least 21 persons were found dead, others apparently raped, and mutilated. At least 6 of the dead were beheaded, including the wife of Mangudadatu. His sisters were also executed. Of the 21 dead, 13 were women. It is feared that at least 13 of the murdered were journalists.
“This is an outrage,” CHR Chairperson Leila De Lima said, reacting to the initial stream of report to reach the CHR Central Office in Manila. “Imagine… it was not enough that they were unarmed, but they had to behead women?”
A visibly disturbed and upset De Lima continued, “What kind of animals are these killers?”
The early reports indicated that the contingent was deliberately composed of several women to off-set the possibility of violence. “The belief was that women, generally, are not subjected to violence. Hindi sila ginagalaw. But even the women were killed and beheaded!” De Lima lamented.
“The Philippine National Police and the Executive Department must be put to task, not only to respond to the killings, but to deliver expeditious justice,” De Lima continued. “There are several underpinning of power and influence in Maguindanao politics that must be overcome without any delay, and the governmental response should be decisive.”
News outlets reported that the son of Datu Andal Ampatuan, the incumbent governor of Maguindanao who resigned earlier this year, was part of the armed group that carried out the massacre. Reports say that there were witnesses who claimed that Mangudadatu’s sister Eden, apparently sensing trouble, pulled out her knife and stabbed the younger Ampatuan. Also, in the final phone conversation between Mangudadatu and his wife Genalyn, the latter complained to her husband that she was slapped by “Ampatuan’s men”.
De Lima remarked, “If there is no swift intervention, this could lead to an outbreak of even more violence and savagery. The Mangudadatus are also a powerful clan and this incident, if left unresolved, could very well develop into more bloodshed between the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus.”
Responding to evening reports that Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jesus Dureza’s call for the disarming of private armies in Maguindanao, De Lima said, “The CHR supports the stand of Secretary Dureza on disarmament. It is precisely because national authorities continue to be neglectful of power-wielding local officials that we find vast segments of the countryside population cowering in fear of violence and in fear for their lives. The Ampatuans, and several other clans for that matter, did not amass its cache of arms and assemble massive private armies overnight. These can only be done while national authorities impliedly condone the proliferation of arms among the political elite in the distant regions of the country. This is unbelievable – even a member of the PNP was reported to be among the armed group that carried out this massacre. Those who are tasked to enforce the law are now bent to do the biddings of political clans.”
“The CHR Regional Office has been aware of a long-standing atmosphere in Maguindanao. They have been tracking gruesome killings, killings allegedly carried out by chainsaw or by burying people alive. But our field officials are afraid to conduct interventions,” De Lima said. “Rightfully so should they be afraid! We cannot blame them for fearing for their own lives because as a nation, we have failed to quell the amassing of private armies. The national government must step in now, as belated as it is, and put a stop to this violence.”
Further reports indicate that authorities fear at least 11 journalists were killed, making this incident ignominious for it is a single largest death toll of media practitioners. De Lima noted, “We have always maintained the importance of protecting the media. The significant role of journalists in human rights efforts is grounded in their ability to bring to public attention all human rights violations that would otherwise be veiled in secrecy, which is what perpetrators want. These rash of killings in Maguindanao prior to this massacre have been low-key items in the news, thus lending to the atmosphere of impunity where murderers move freely to carry out killings. To have this many journalists murdered is not just a grievous offense to the persons killed, but a defiant attack upon the freedom, democracy and human rights we all enjoy.
“I call on the media as well to be on guard but to continue to unearth the human rights crisis brewing in Maguindanao. Only when we are able to bring the true state of violence in Maguindanao, the true character of the power-wielding clans, to national attention, can we unremorsefully reprimand our national government for neglecting their duties to maintain peace in Maguindanao.”
On reports that ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan were in a meeting with Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio on the day of the massacre, De Lima said, “We are aware that the Ampatuans are politically allied with the administration. We are also aware that they delivered landslide votes in previous elections. Despite these political alliances, we should not see even a mere appearance of partiality towards the Ampatuans, if they are indeed the ones responsible for the massacre, as reports suggest. We should not see even an ounce of leeway given to these killers. If there is even a mere suggestion that authorities are compromising the fair application of the law, I call on all Filipinos to strike back hard and clamor for the full force of the law upon these killers.”
Following are statements from various media organizations:
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Politics is writ large in the November 23 abduction and killing of over 40 people, at least 12 of them journalists. The brutality and the sheer senselessness of the attack in Maguindanao represent a new low, even in the country’s shameful record of violence. It calls for collective outrage and condemnation and the strongest demand for the immediate apprehension, trial and punishment of those responsible.
The violent attack struck at the heart of the country’s democratic forces—local politicians, lawyers, women and journalists. The call for justice must come from all both here and abroad who believe that democracy must be strengthened in the Philippines.
Twelve of the over 40 people killed were journalists. Several of them were tortured. The women among them were raped. These murders have increased the number of journalists killed in the line of duty this year from 3 to 15 and added so many more to the 81 already killed in the Philippines since 1986.
The journalists were covering the wife, sisters, and followers of a local politician, a vice-mayor seeking to run for a gubernatorial seat, who were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) in the provincial office of the Commission on Elections in Shariff Aguak town. Local elections are as hotly contested as the national ballot and violence in the 2010 elections have already been flagged for all journalists who will be covering them.
These killings are likely to trigger a cycle of reprisals and counter-reprisals that will raise even higher the levels of violence in Maguindanao, quite possibly in the rest of Mindanao, and even the entire Philippines itself. Violence has a way of begetting further violence, as Philippine experience demonstrates.
Indeed, the Maguindanao attack was not only an attack on a local politician, on his supporters, and on journalists. It was also an attack on what’s left of Philippine democracy, in which free and peaceful elections have never been as urgent an imperative as today. Only the quickest and most decisive response in terms of arresting and bringing the perpetrators to court can prevent the November 23 killings from turning into one more incident to inspire the killers—of journalists, political activists, local officials, priests, lawyers and judges—who roam this country with impunity to keep on killing.
But President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and Cotabato City, in tacit admission that neither the military nor the Philippine National Police can cope with the situation without being armed with special powers.
We reject that supposed solution as an invitation to further violence as well as to the further abuse of the citizenry. The local military and police are widely known to be partial to certain groups, and are likely to harden that partisanship as elections in May 2010 nears. Indeed policemen are said to have been part of the group of 100 that waylaid the convoy the slain journalists were accompanying. A state of emergency will provide a convenient cover for military and police partisanship, among other reasons because it will provide them a legal basis for preventing the media from covering the impact on the citizenry of the political rivalries, based on clan disputes, that haunt Maguindanao and other areas of Mindanao as well as the overall conduct of the elections there.
We affirm that it is the media’s crucial task to provide the citizenry the information it needs so it can make such decisions as to who to vote for as well as others related to its well-being and safety. We reiterate, however, that no story is worth the life of a single journalist. Journalists must take the greatest care to assure their own safety, and to evaluate the risks involved before covering any event of public relevance anywhere.
Journalists must thus take care to steer clear of partisanships likely to transform them into casualties of the clash between political parties and feuding clans, and to affirm through their work and actions their sole loyalty to the professional and ethical imperatives of fairness and truth telling.
We mourn the death of our countrymen and colleagues in the hands of the barbaric horde that’s likely to be under the pay of the local politician’s rivals. But we must also remind the living never to underestimate the reality of the threats to their lives and well-being that have become common place in a country ruled by political forces who are unable to discharge, for both journalists and ordinary citizens, that most basic of State responsibilities, protecting every man, woman and child’s right to life and to a life without fear.
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) demands justice for our colleagues and all the other victims of the November 23 carnage in Maguindanao province.
The Ampatuan massacre, which the military has confirmed was perpetrated by Shariff Aguak Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and police Sr. Inspector Dicay, goes beyond the issue of freedom of the press and of expression and strikes at the very foundations of democracy.
Aside from the wife, relatives and supporters of Ismail Mangudadatu, who were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy to run as governor of Maguindanao, the slaughter also claimed the lives of at least 12 colleagues, according to reports from our chapters in Mindanao.
This incident not only erases all doubts about the Philippines being the most dangerous country for journalists in the world, outside of Iraq, it could very well place the country on the map as a candidate for a failed democracy.
Running for office and voting are as much exercises of free will and expression as covering and reporting the news.
We expect nothing less from this government than the swift apprehension and punishment of everyone involved in this gruesome assault on the national body politic, including the masterminds, regardless of who they might be.
Anything less would mean that the impunity that has emboldened those who would silence the press, staining this administration with the worst record of murdered journalists, has spread to embolden those who would subvert our democracy for their own selfish interests.
University of the Philippines Department of Journalism (College of Mass Communication)
The mutilated bodies of journalists Ian Subang (Dadiangas Times), Leah Dalmacio (Forum), Gina dela Cruz (Today), Marites Cablitas (Today), Joy Duhay (UNTV), Henry Araneta (DZRH), Andy Teodoro (Mindanao Inquirer), Neneng Montaño (formerly of RGMA), Bong Reblando, (Manila Bulletin), Victor Nuñez (UNTV), Macmac Ariola (UNTV), Jimmy Cabillo (UNTV), Bart Maravilla (Bombo Radyo, Koronadal) and lawyers Cynthia Oquendo and Connie Brizuela were recovered hours after they had set out to cover the filing of certificates of candidacy by the wife of a local official in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao yesterday.
The journalists and media practitioners were part of a convoy of some 44 unarmed civilians, most of them women, who were waylaid on their way to the Comelec office. According to reports, the skulls of some of the victims were shattered with bullets, their faces crushed beyond recognition, the women raped, and some of the other victims beheaded.
This is the largest number of journalists killed in one single incident anywhere in the world and comes amid local and international concern over deadly attacks on media people.
While the killings were the result of the long-running feud between the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus, both maintain private armies that the government has failed to disband. The President relies on her allies to deliver votes to Malacañang, some of whom maintain heavily armed goons beyond the pale of law. Covering elections has become a dangerous trade for journalists in this country. The massacre is in short the direct consequence of the state of lawlessness in Maguindanao abetted by the Arroyo regime, in the same manner that it abets and in some cases even encourages, extra judicial killings– and in the case of journalists, encourages further killings through its indifference.
While the massacre was being perpetrated, the President’s chief political adviser was in fact shaking hands with the Ampatuans in Malacañang yesterday, even as the PNP chief for Maguindanao refused to respond when the victims were calling him up by cellphone.
In an obvious attempt at benefitting from the brutal killings—and in tacit admission that the military and police cannot do anything to prevent further violence without special powers– the presidential adviser on the peace process, Jesus Dureza, could only propose the declaration of a state of emergency in Maguindanao.
The country has been down that road before, and we know where it leads: to further violence as the police and military mask their partisanship for the various groups fighting for power in the province; as well as to further abuse as they impose the will of their patrons on the citizenry.
The Department of Journalism of the U.P. College of Mass Communication holds the Arroyo government accountable for the continuing state of lawless violence in Maguindanao and other parts of the country.
We demand that the President be made to account for the murders and mayhem perpetrated by her allies and for her continued coddling of warlords and private armies. We demand the immediate arrest of the thugs armed with unlicensed firearms as well as their bosses, and the immediate arrest and detention of the perpetrators of the crime and its masterminds regardless of political party.
Mrs. Arroyo should otherwise relinquish control of the AFP units in the area to the Comelec. Her failure to act decisively would not only demonstrate that she has no control over those areas where her allies rule. It would also show that she has a conflict of interest—between her public duty to protect the life of every Filipino on the one hand, and on the other, her interest in coddling the warlords who have delivered votes for her administration in the past regardless of their cost in lives, and on whom she will once again depend in May 2010.
National Press Club
The National Press Club mourns the 12 journalists reportedly killed while covering a local gubernatorial candidate’s attempt to file election papers in the Philippines’ Maguindanao Province on the island of Mindanao.
Early reports from the Philippines state-run media say 46 people, including 12 journalists, were slain, allegedly by supporters of the incumbent governor. More than 100 gunmen surrounded the group, including the candidate’s wife, and kidnapped them. Some of the victims had been beheaded, the media reported.
“No one benefits when journalists are intimidated, threatened and ultimately killed merely for trying to report the news,” National Press Club President Donna Leinwand said. “The government in the Philippines must take concrete, immediate steps to protect journalists and press freedom.”
The Philippine president has pledged to investigate the murders fully. We urge her to ensure a throrough, complete and honest investigation free of political bias. The government should also ensure that, despite the government-declared state of emergency, journalists continue to have unfettered access to areas where political violence is rampant.
Southeast Asian Press Alliance
“Even warlordism is but a symptom of the larger climate of impunity that threatens Filipinos, their media, and their democracy in general. For that toxic environment, the government must be held accountable.”
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) condemns in the strongest possible terms the abduction and massacre of at least 36 Filipinos in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao. Reports coming out of the Philippines say at least 12 journalists who were among the abductees have been slain.
It is widely believed that the horrific episode was brought about by a bitter feud among entrenched political clans in Maguindanao. Media and authorities have been quick to tag the massacre as election-related, certainly among the worst that has been seen in the Philippines in decades.
SEAPA calls on the Philippine government to do all that it must to halt the violence and bring the murderers to justice.
As swiftly as they must act, however, the Philippine leaders must also, once and for all, demonstrate its accountability for the larger toxic climate that suffocates Filipinos and Philippine democracy. The government must own up to what it has allowed to fester: an environment of impunity that had already taken hundreds of lives, including that of hundreds of journalists, long before the recent Maguindanao tragedy took place.
Even the warlordism that must be fought and condemned in Maguindanao is but a symptom of what truly has Filipinos and their democracy beleaguered.
The perpetrators behind the most heinous acts in Maguindanao must be brought to justice. Immediately. Failure to act, we are afraid, would not only be an indictment of Philippine leadership. It will be nothing new.
“The Philippines had one of the highest rates of journalist killings in the world even prior to this heinous episode of barbarism,” SEAPA Executive Director Roby Alampay said. “Even the scale of one day’s carnage cannot mask the years of government inaction, denial, and ineptitude that have allowed violence to go unpunished. That climate of impunity that has been allowed to fester is what has made all Filipinos—not just activists, politicians, or mediamen—vulnerable to powers and interests intolerant of dissent or even just independent voices.”
The clear role that warlordism plays in this, one of the bloodiest episodes in recent Philippine history, should not absolve the government of its accountability for the larger environment it has tolerated, patronized and therefore nurtured.
Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines
The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric mass murder of defenseless civilians – including more than a dozen journalists – in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on November 23.
We condole with the families of the murdered journalists, some of whom FOCAP members had occasion to work with in the past. These courageous media personnel were only doing their job to report crucial political developments in Mindanao and should not have been directly targetted by any partisan armed groups.
Their systematic and calculated killings are a direct affront to democratic principles, and aim to strike fear and to muzzle free, fearless and balanced reporting.
It is the heaviest loss of lives for the Philippine media, possibly in the whole world, in a single day and comes on the heels of a series of many unsolved killings of Filipino journalists in recent years.
The death of our comrades will not go beyond mere statistics, but will serve to inspire FOCAP to continue to defend press freedom.
The brutal, brazen and cold-blooded manner in which the victims were abducted in public then shot point blank shatters all sense of civility and concretely puts into question the capability of local authorities to protect ordinary civilians, including working journalists. The murderers have flourished in their territories and certainly felt they were above the law.
It is a chilling prelude to the crucial 2010 presidential, congressional and local elections and erodes the public’s sense of security and confidence on law enforcers.
We demand that the government move with a sense of urgency in solving this dastardly heinous crime and all other unpunished attacks on the press, which have only emboldened their perpetrators and threaten a crucial pillar of the country’s democracy.
International Federation of Journalists
The IFJ has called for the international community to intervene to demand a full investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the biggest single massacre of working journalists in recent history.
The IFJ call came after at least twelve journalists were murdered when a political convoy of over 36 persons was ambushed and slaughtered by gunmen in the Maguindanao province of Southern Philippines.
“This is an event which shocks journalists around the world to the core,’ said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “We need a strong and urgent response from the Philippine government and the international community.”
The political convoy was led by Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu, who was on her way to file her husband’s nomination as a candidate for the forthcoming election for governor of Maguindanao province. Journalists were part of the convoy along with several members of her family.
The convoy was ambushed Monday morning by around 100 armed men, who took them to a remote location before massacring them all. Most were shot; some were beheaded and driven over by vehicles.
According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) among the victims were at least 12 journalists covering the political development who were accompanying the political convoy.
This is the darkest day in the history of journalism in the Philippines, which, outside of Iraq, has topped the tables of countries where journalists are most at risk in recent years.
Alliance of Independent Journalists Indonesia
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia condemns the massacre of 12 Filipino journalists together with other 57 civilians in Province of Manguindanao on November 23. AJI members express their condemnation in front of the Embassy of Filipina Republic in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia on 26 November 2009.
The massacre was an incident that cannot be accepted by mentally fit people. International Federation of Journalists and Reporter without Borders remark that Manguindanao massacre was the worst in recent history as 12 journalists were killed in a single moment.
AJI also supports IFJ’s call for investigation to bring the offenders of massacre to international justice. “The Filipino government has always grants impunity to the murderers of journalists in that country,” says Nezar Patria, the president of AJI Indonesia.
AJI Indonesia is also willing to send a lawyer to joint international fact-finding team. AJI has named Bayu Wicaksono of Legal Aid Center for Press to joint fact-finding team if required. The fact-finding team is crucial to collect evidences in order to bring the murderers into international criminal tribunal. “We have great commitment to help Filipino journalists combating impunity,” says Margiyono, Advocacy Coordinator of AJI Indonesia.
AJI Indonesia also demands UN Human Rights Council and ASEAN Human rights Commission to take necessary steps to bring the murderers into international criminal tribunal. Without support of international and regional human rights bodies, the murderers will continue enjoying impunity. As we see, Filipina government grants the murderers of journalists with impunity. Impunity has made journalists killings repetitively happened, ever worse, in that country.
Some 57 civilians, 12 among of them journalists, were killed by some 100 gunmen during a political rally made by a family of governor candidate. Until now, the Filipino government never names who are responsible for those crime against humanity.
— Yvonne T. Chua