Poor pay, scant logistics, safety risks vex reporters

MANILA, Philippines - When media groups started going about the grim task of compiling a list of journalists killed in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao, there was a brief moment when the numbers wouldn’t add up.

While it was clear that many of the victims worked for local newspapers and radio stations, some of the victims held positions that did not seem to be connected to journalism.

Aside from the reporters, photographers and drivers who could be expected to cover the filing of the certificate of candidacy of Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu, then a vice-mayor of Buluan town, there were other victims who were newspaper circulation managers, and account and sales personnel.

Later, it turned out that these were journalists as well—journalists who were also doubling as sales personnel selling air time and ad space during their coverage duties.

Many Manila journalists balk at the idea of reporters pestering a source for a good story, then coming back to pester the same source to buy ad space in their newspapers. But for many community newspapers and radio stations that are barely able to keep their heads above the water, this is a sad but necessary reality—journalists are being made responsible for pulling in the revenues as they are for bringing in the stories.

The Philippines may have the distinction of having one of the freest presses in Asia, but the freedom still comes at a steep price. Corruption, low pay and extrajudicial killings remain the top issues that Filipino journalists have to deal with aside from the daily deadline that they have to meet.

Over the last seven months, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) conducted 12 training seminars for print and broadcast journalists and bloggers. In these forums, we engaged local and national journalists all over the country in discussions over issues that remain sticky in their day-to-day coverage and require judgment calls on their part.

Alarming, sad picture
What emerges is a picture that is alarming as it is sad, as reporters who work for national news agencies live and deal with problems that are far removed from the struggle for physical and financial survival of their cousins in the community press.

A mid-level reporter in Mindanao said he survives by working as a stringer for a local and a national television network. Both pay little, and only for stories aired that are few and far between. So the reporter works double time by acting as a producer and an anchor in another private radio station. To top it all off, our intrepid and industrious reporter also works as a marketing and advertising person.

It’s a situation that exposes journalists to risks that range from physical to moral ones. Commiserating with the multi-tasking reporter, a provincial paper editor also based in Mindanao admitted candidly: “I learned that all along I was wrong in some ethical practices.”

Explained a reporter for a Manila-based newspaper: “Countryside journalists continue to be vulnerable to bribery due to factors of their outfit’s survival.”

Magnified problem
A junior reporter for a provincial paper, though, said it was sad to know that violations of ethical journalism standards by a few have been magnified. “There are doings by a few and these are reflective of the image of the whole,” said the reporter. “Sana mawala na ’yan sa sistema ng media [I hope this disappears from the media system].”

A senior correspondent for a giant television network meanwhile acknowledged that many media companies do not have the capacity to pay their staff well to keep them away from corrupt practices. But she believed that “ethics is a personal judgment call.”

In all the PCIJ training seminars where ethical practices were taken up, the most common reason that the journalists cited to explain breaches of ethics was the supposed lack of financial support from their employers.

The journalists admit that receiving money gifts, and other favors from people they cover for news, especially during elections, compromise their writing.

The Philippine government has been ranked among the most corrupt in the world. Corruption has become so pervasive that scandals have been coming out one after another in the news.

But these stories about corruption become less credible when persons delivering the news are themselves involved in other forms of corrupt activities. It certainly affects the credibility and integrity of the media in exercising its watchdog function.

Income extenders
Media companies — print, broadcast, or online — have varying salary rates. Many print journalists for community newspapers are paid only for the stories that are run, not for stories that they submit. Some journalists thus take home as little as P3,000 a month. The more senior ones make P10,000 to P15,000, depending on the number of newspapers they write for.

Because of the inadequate salary, some journalists are forced to look for “income extenders.” Some do it “legitimately” by officially taking on multiple roles in the company. The Koronadal-based Periodico Ini, for example, lost five people in the Maguindanao Massacre: Rey Merisco, John Caniban, Arturo Betia, Noel Decena, and Rani Razon.

Periodico Ini publisher Freddie Solinap said that with their deaths, his small newspaper effectively lost all its reporters – and most of its administrative staff. Betia had doubled as the paper’s marketing director; Decina as circulation manager; and Razon as sales manager.

Others do public relations work for politicians or government offices. Sometimes, the part-time work even gives journalists bigger pay than their main job.

But there are those who do not have to work extra to earn more. According to a radio reporter in the Visayas, these journalists merely wait for their monthly “allowance” from the local government.

“Many broadcasters and journalists here are guilty of being unethical,” said the reporter, “and I am sad to say that most of those unethical broadcasters are not here to learn and refresh and review their GMRC [good manners and right conduct].”

Others seek money
Yet if some community journalists engage in small-time corruption to make ends meet, other journalists complain of colleagues and superiors who engage in corruption in a scale that makes their poorer cousins in the provinces look like Mother Teresa.

There are rumors of famous television and radio anchors in Manila who attack in order to collect, or of editors and producers who roll in the lap of luxury because of their role as gatekeepers of the news.
Theirs is certainly not a case of kapit sa patalim [biting the bullet].

But the condition, at least in the provinces, does not seem to be beyond solution. Zoilo Dejaresco, whose family owns a radio station and publishes a chain of newspapers in the Visayas, acknowledged that salaries of reporters in community newspapers are inadequate to support the basic needs of a small family.

“Our view is to put premium pay on senior writers we barely can afford to lose by multi-tasking them between, say, print with radio and administrative work,” he said. “So, instead of hiring one more warm body, the writer will be earning more take-home pay.”

Safety is another issue worrying journalists, especially those in the provinces.

While the two major television networks ABS-CBN and GMA have finally begun equipping their reporters and camera teams with bulletproof vests and ballistic helmets for coverage that could be dangerous, most media agencies, even those in Manila, are content to send their reporters out with nothing more than a press card and a prayer.

The situation is all the more deplorable in the provinces, where correspondents live with the rebels, bandits or soldiers that they also cover.

Insurance cover
Even before the Maguindanao massacre, the Philippines was already one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. The murder of 32 media workers in Ampatuan town pushed the death toll for Filipino journalists to 137— about a third killed in the line of duty or for their exposes on local crime and corruption—since the freedom of the press was restored in 1986.

Providing insurance coverage for journalists, Dejaresco said, could be possible but only to those in special coverage that places them at extraordinary risks and the coverage would have time limits.

He said he would agree to allowing a field reporter to carry a gun but only “in extremely meritorious cases where life and limb are clearly established to be in clear and present danger.”

But Dejaresco draws the line at providing firearms to reporters. This, he said, is a no-no since a reporter could be more dangerous and unnecessarily provocative when carrying a gun. “They have to be psychologically fit, in our estimation,” he stressed.

In the end, journalists have to realize that while the profession is inherently fraught with danger, there are day-to-day decisions that they make that could make the difference in just how much risks they would be forced to face.

To be sure, allowing oneself to be manipulated or branded as partisan in favor of one or another politician whether or not for political or financial considerations, is just another way to get oneself in trouble.

Said an editor of a Davao-based newspaper: “Our role as journalists [in election reporting] does not end with just reporting on the results of elections or election-related violence.”

Acting independently, he added, is a first, big step that all journalists must take. “We have our roles to portray, one of which is not to let politicians use us for their own benefit,” he pointed out. “We should address the real, accurate stories.”

Even more important, according to a journalist from the Visayas, is for journalists to “have enough courage
and perseverance to do what is right, even if it hurts.”

“The pen must continue to be mightier than the sword,” said another journalist from Central Luzon. (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism - Tita Valderama)

Journalist's house attacked in Mindanao

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 22, 2009) – A Filipino journalist cheated death, but his father-in-law was wounded after a grenade attack at their family house in Mindanao, reports said.

Reports said an unidentified man tossed the grenade at the house of Daniel Pilar in the village of Taba-o in the town of Jimenez in Misamis Occidental province. The weekend attack was believed connected to his work as a television journalist.

ABS-CBN television reported that the journalist was feeding his chickens at the back of their house when the attack occurred.

Neptali Batolonio, chapter president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said the attack seems to be related to Pilar's work. The journalist hosts the news and public service program "Analysis" at a local cable television station.

"After talking to Danny, I believe this attack is politically motivated. I think this is the first time this has happened in our town. He did not receive a death threat before the attack. He was doing research on a politician and that person may have been tipped off about Danny's inquiries," Batolonio told ABS-CBN.

The NUJP condemned the attack, saying, the Pilar family is now in hiding after the incident.

Last month, gunmen brutally killed 57 people; at least 30 of them were journalists, accompanying an election caravan in Maguindanao province. Andal Ampatuan Jr., then mayor of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao, was accused of masterminding the attack on the convoy of his political rival. Several other clan members were arrested in connection to the killings. (Mindanao Examiner)

Roundtable on impunity of crimes against journalists took place in Philippines

SAN JUAN CITY, Philippines - Experts in law, human rights, history, political science, psychology, anthropology and communication joined media representatives recently in a round-table discussion on the culture of impunity of crimes committed against journalists.

According to Florangel Rosario Braid, Chair of the Communication Committee of the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO, the discussion aimed to examine the problem of impunity of crimes committed against Filipino journalists, from a multidisciplinary perspective, with inputs from experts in social sciences. Through an analysis of the causes of impunity and of case examples, a policy framework and an action plan will be recommended to address the continued killing of journalists.

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, already sounded an alarm for the increasing deaths of Filipino journalists, “who have been made to pay an intolerably heavy price to exercise the basic human right of freedom of expression”. He has called on the Philippine authorities to “spare no effort in bringing to justice the culprits of these crimes which undermine the rights and freedoms of all the citizens of the Philippines”.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility reports that 134 Filipino journalists were killed from 1986 until August 2009. 80 of these murders were work-related. Since the beginning of 2009, six journalists have already been killed.

At the roundtable discussion, funded by UNESCO’s Office in Jakarta, and organized by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) and the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO, the participants decided to undertake a research that would examine culture, history, child rearing, education, media and economics of the Filipino society.

They also recommended that the content and context of reports on the killings be analysed, and the families of victims, as well as the perpetrators of crimes, be heard and considered in the study.

The participants of the roundtable, together with other experts, will form an e-group to finalise the research framework and to share papers and case studies.

AIJC President, Ramon Tuazon, facilitated the roundtable discussion. Other participants represented the Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Centre for Community Journalism and Development, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (National Association of Philippine Broadcasters), the Philippine Press Institute, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, the Philippines Communication Society and the Philippine Association of Communication Educators. (UNESCO)


Link: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=29176&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Journalist shot in central Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 12, 2009) – Unidentified gunmen wounded a journalist in an attack Friday in the central Philippines province of Masbate, reports said.

It said Antonio Castillo was shot by motorcycle gunmen in Masbate. It was unknown whether the attack on the 45-year old tabloid reporter was connected to his job.

Castillo, who works for the tabloid “Bigwasan,” was riding also on his motorcycle when gunmen shot him in the body. He was able to escape and hid on a village until police arrived.

The Philippines has been tagged as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Dozens of journalists have been killed since 2001 in the country under President Gloria Arroyo’s watch, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Another broadcaster shot in southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 21, 2009) – Two unidentified gunmen shot and wounded a radio disc jockey in an attack in the southern Filipino province of Zamboanga Sibugay, local television reports said.

ABS-CBN reported that Harrison Manalac was shot late Wednesday in the town of Buug.

Manalac was on a motorcycle when he was attacked near his radio dXXE at around 7.30 p.m.
The assailants escaped on a motorcycle after the shooting. The motive of the attack was unknown.

Last March, another broadcaster, Nilo Labares, was also shot and wounded in Cagayan de Oro City also in the southern Philippines.

Labares is working with the Radio Mindanao Network and known for his hard-hitting comments on illegal activities in Cagayan de Oro.

Police early this month arrested a suspect in the murder of a newspaper publisher in the Philippines after four years into hiding.

Nilo Morete was arrested in Mabalacat town in Pampanga province. He was implicated in the murder of Philip Agustin, publisher and editor of Starline Times Recorder, in 2005.

Police are still hunting down his alleged accomplice Manuel Alday. A town mayor was also linked to the killing of the journalist.

The Philippines has been tagged as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. Dozens of journalists have been killed since 2001 in the country under President Gloria Arroyo’s watch, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

Press fotogs now arming themselves in the Philippines

Members of the Press Photographers of the Philippines get pointers from a gun instructor prior to a firing session in Camp Karingal in Quezon City. More than 70 journalists have died in the Philippines at the hands of assailants and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has approved the arming of journalist to defend themselves. (Mindanao Examiner / Contributed photo by Jan Larosa – Philippine News Service)

Media groups assail military profiling of journalists in Mindanao

Military media profiling document.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 9, 2008) – After harassing a radio reporter in Mindanao, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) now wanted all journalists covering a major military base in the troubled region to submit their photographs and a detailed personal profile.

The military would also countercheck and verify all information about the journalists covering the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City.

The military said all personal information of the journalists is needed to update their data base.

“The CIO WestMinCom reserves the right to countercheck and verify the entries made herein and to cancel accreditation should false data be discovered. This accreditation is only valid for the purpose of covering WestMinCom activities and other related events,” according to the instructions of the military form given to journalists in Zamboanga City.

CIO refers to the Command Information Office of the Western Mindanao Command, where US military forces are also encamped.

The military also obligated journalists to sign a waiver that reads: “I hereby waive all my legal rights/claims against the AFP for any accident, loss or any untoward incident that may occur while covering the AFP activities.”

But below the waiver, it reads: I am executing this waiver on my own free will and volition.”

The military wanted journalists to submit even their social security and tax number, identification marks on the body, colors of hair and eyes, and even the type of blood and names and addresses of kin and their phone numbers, e-mail addresses and religious affiliation.

The Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi chapters of the independent National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and members of the local media strongly criticized the military’s media profiling.

“NUJP ZamBaSulTa sees it as further intrusion on privacy even if reporters' background is already public knowledge. NUJP sees the policy as a subtle form of harassment as bio-data is a basis to issue defense press card, wherein press identification card is already enough,” it said in a statement released on Sunday.

Press editors and media personalities in Manila also questioned the military’s profiling of journalists in Mindanao. It was the second time the military in Zamboanga City tried, but failed to impose media profiling the past decade.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is also dismayed at the ongoing disrespect shown towards journalists and press freedom in the Philippines after receiving new reports of bullying by government officials and threatening text messages.

"For there to be any hope of securing press freedom in the Philippines, there must be systemic attitude change, from the government and army to members of the general public, towards journalists and their rights to practice their craft without suffering constant verbal and physical abuse," it said.

“The IFJ joins the NUJP in standing in solidarity with our colleagues in the Philippines in their courageous work, and reminds all journalists and media institutions that at such a dangerous time for media workers in the Philippines, personal safety must be protected zealously.”

And all these were required to journalists after different media groups in Mindanao criticized Lt. Col. John Oswald Bucu, camp commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao province, for berating a radio reporter, Loreto Rosario, while covering a fire that razed an ammo dump inside the base on October 31.

The officer also seized Rosario's cellular phones and brought him at the camp's public information office where Bucu continued to lambaste the journalist in front of soldiers.

Other journalists covering the fire were also prevented from getting near the ammo dump even after the blaze was over. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has already demanded the military to discipline Bucu.

Bucu accused Rosario, who is working for the Catholic radio station dxMS in Cotabato City, of intruding inside the camp, an accusation strongly denied by the reporter.

Journalists in Cotabato City have already boycotted coverage of the army division headquarters and demanded that relief of Bucu. "The NUJP is demanding that the AFP impose strong sanctions against Bucu for his clear assault on press freedom," the media organization said in a statement.

Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, 6th Infantry Division commander, has not responded to the NUJP demand, but journalists vowed to bring this to the attention of Defense Secy. Gilberto Teodoro and Philippine Army Chief Gen. Victor Ibrado.

Ibrado has already ordered an investigation into the NUJP complaints against Bucu, according to Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, the Philippine Army spokesman. "General Victor Ibrado has already ordered General (Raymundo) Ferrer to conduct an investigation on the matter," Brawner said.

Brawner said the embattled army officer insisted he was just protecting Rosario who was trying to get near the burning ammo dump.

Rosario said Bucu has apologized to him on Friday, one week after the incident. “He has apologized to me and I accepted his apology. The NUJP will issue a statement about this,” he said.

The NUJP said Rosario's case was not the first time that Bucu has targeted journalists.

Two years ago, at a gathering of reporters at the headquarters of the Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade in North Cotabato, Bucu allegedly branded NUJP Kidapawan City chapter president Malu Manar a member of the communist rebel group New People's Army. Manar is the program director of the Catholic radio station dxND in North Cotabato. (Mindanao Examiner)

Shot Mindanao Broadcaster Still In Critical Condition

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines (August 6, 2008) - Radio broadcaster Dennis Cuesta, who was shot in close range on Monday, may suffer partial paralysis should he survive, said the doctors of St. Elizabeth Hospital who attended to him.

The bullets reportedly pierced the victim’s right head, left arm and the lower portion of his hip, and hit the spinal column. Cuesta is working for the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in General Santos City.

Cuesta, along with a former RMN reporter, was on his way to a nearby mall when shot from behind by two motorcycle-riding gunmen along the National Highway fronting the Novitiate Square just a few blocks to the dxCP radio station.

“This is the first attempt to gun down a journalist under my time. And I want to see these suspects behind bars,” Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio, police regional director for Central Mindanao, told local police officials after forming Task Force Cuesta composed of repre­sentatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division, Regional Intelligence Division and Public Information Office to ensure a coordinated effort in the investigation and immediate resolution of the case.

Local journalists from different media groups condemned in the strongest terms the attack against Cuesta and helped find means to provide blood and medicines for their colleague.

They are also organizing an activity to demonstrate their col­lective grievances on Friday star­ting with lighting of candles at the crime scene, before marching toward the Oval Plaza down to the city police command in Camp Fermin G. Lira.

The reporters underscore with this move their protest against the “unabated” killings in the city, numbering at 70 reportedly perpetrated by the “brom-brom boys” (local term for motor-riding guns-for-hire) since the start of 2008.

Ronel Degorio, a hard-hitting columnist of the local Sapol News Bulletin noted it is high time for Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Avelino Rason to look into the investigation before local residents completely lose their trust and confidence on the city-based law enforcers.

In an interview with media, Serapio said the police are looking into several angles as primary motives of the attack. “This could be work-related considering Cuesta was a hard-hitting radio commentator and also a witness to an illegal detention case. Still, we cannot use these circumstances as evidence. We need to gather hard evidences and witnesses that will lead to the arrest of the suspects,” said Serapio.

The police chief for Central Mindanao referred to the arrest of four suspected killers of Mainland Review columnist Marlene Esperat in Tacurong City, the filing of charges against the suspected killer of RGMA radio commentator Jun Abayon, including the arrest of the two suspected killers of the late Ely Binoya who was gunned down while on his way home on June 17, 2004.

Police said anyone with relevant information could contact the Task Force Cuesta at (083) 301-5083 or use the PNP Hotline 117/166 for immediate action. (Isagani P. Palma)

Journalist Survives Attack But Remains Comatose: NUJP

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines (August 5,2008) – Broadcast journalist Dennis Cuesta remained comatose at a hospital here after unidentified gunmen shot him Monday afternoon.

Cuesta, program director of radio station DXMD of the Radio Mindanao Network here, sustained several gunshot wounds, one bullet shattering his skull and another one lodged in his hip.

Cuesta's wife Gloria said her husband is still unconscious and remains at the intensive care unit of the Saint Elizabeth Hospital where physicians gave him a 50-50 chance of survival.

"Doctors said that if he survives, half of his body would be paralyzed," Gloria said in an interview over dxMD.

Cuesta will undergo another CT scan Tuesday.

RMN assistant area manager Dodong Solis said surgeons removed some 24 bone fragments lodged in the left side of Cuesta's head.

Solis said police were already looking into the possibility that the shooting was related to Cuesta's work. Police were set to release a cartographic sketch of the gunmen based on descriptions given by witnesses.

Cuesta anchors the public affairs program "Straight to the Point" and is known for his aggressive commentaries on controversial issues like illegal gambling, graft and corruption in government and illegal drugs.

Cuesta was shot at about 4 p.m. near a mall here after coming from a promotional activity of RMN in nearby Sarangani province.

Witnesses said Cuesta was approached by motorcycle-riding gunmen who shot him with a 45 caliber pistol. The incident happened in a public place frequented by travelers and shoppers.

Broadcaster Shot In Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – An unidentified gunman shot and seriously wounded a broadcaster in an attack in the southern Philippines, the Radio Mindanao Network said Monday.

It said one of its radio presenter, Dennis Cuesta, was shot and that police is still investigating the attack. RMN said Cuesta was shot in the head.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said a journalist, Bert Sison, was killed in an attack on June 30 in Quezon province. Sison was driving home with two of his daughters when two men on a motorcycle opened fire on his vehicle.

Sison was writing for Regional Bulletin, a Quezon-based weekly, and host of the weekly Harana (Serenade) program on radio dzAT-AM in Lucena City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyafs Seize Journalist, 3 Others In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 9, 2008) – Abu Sayyaf militants have seized a Filipino television journalist and two cameramen, including a Muslim university professor in the southern Philippine island of Sulu, police said Monday.

Police said Ces Drilon and her cameramen and their companion Octavio Dinampo were abducted in the village of Kulasi in the town of Maimbung. Drilon’s team arrived in Sulu on Saturday from Zamboanga City, said Supt. Julasirim Kasim, the provincial police chief.

“We received reports that the four were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf led by Albader Parad,” Kasim told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said Drilon’s group, from the television giant ABS-CBN, was believed taken to the hinterlands of Indanan town. Dinampo teaches at the Mindanao State University and is said to be helping Drilon in her coverage. The identities of the two cameramen were not immediately known.

“There is no demand yet for ransom,” Kasim said, adding, Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan convened the Crisis Management Committee to address the situation.

“Governor Sakur Tan is very worried over the safety of the victims and we are doing everything to locate them,” Kasim said.

Drilon’s group is billeted at the Sulu State College hostel in Jolo town where they took two rooms and left on Saturday afternoon after ordering foods good for 20 people, the local police chief Insp. Usman Pingay.

“We don’t know what really happened and why Drilon went without security to Maimbung,” he said in a separate interview.

A hotel staff said he saw Drilon hurriedly left and even asked her where she was going. “She was really in a hurry and I even asked her where they were going and Ces Drilon only replied that they would just be nearby. They never came back since Saturday.”

ABS-CBN television did not give any statement about the abduction. But Drilon’s group was the second from the television network to be kidnapped in Sulu in the past eight years – reporter Maan Macapagal and her cameraman Val Cuenca were also kidnapped on the island while working on exclusive news on the Abu Sayyaf.

Independent journalist Arlyn dela Cruz was also kidnapped in Sulu while covering the Abu Sayyaf. Another photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag was shot in the head by an Abu Sayyaf militant while shooting the sunset in Sulu several years ago.

The Abu Sayyaf had also seized foreign journalists covering the group’s kidnapping of 21 Asian and Western holidaymakers from Sabah. Most of those kidnapped were freed in exchange for ransom. (Mindanao Examiner)

Reporters Sans Border Condemns Jailing Of Filipino Journalist

Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of radio show host Julito Ucab, who has been held in Butuan City, on the southern island of Mindanao, since last month for failing to attend a court hearing on a defamation case dating back to 2004.

"After the jailing of Alex Adonis in Davao City, this is the second radio presenter to be detained in the Philippines as a result of a very questionable judicial procedure," the press freedom organization said.

"It is shocking that laws criminalizing defamation are still being applied. The United Nations have said very clearly that imprisoning a journalist for any length of time is disproportionate to the injury done to the plaintiff."

Ucab is being held in connection with a lawsuit brought against him in 2004 by an employee of the Butuan City architects office, Amado Jovellano, because a woman had accused Jovellano of rape on a programme hosted by Ucab on Butuan City's radio dzBC.

Also known as "Lito," Ucab now lives and works in Cagayan de Oro City, also on Mindanao island, and has been unable to attend hearings in Butuan since 2006. Back then, the court granted him provisional liberty after he paid bail of 330 Euros. But it finally issued an arrest warrant of the kind that does not admit the possibility of release on bail.

Cagayan de Oro press club president Jerry Orcullo said: "Journalists playing their role of society's watchdogs do not deserve to be treated as common criminals." Ucab's arrest is "clear proof of the brutal nature of the defamation law," he added.

On January 25, the supreme court urged judges to sentence persons found guilty of defamation to fines rather than prison sentences.

Journalists continue to be exposed to abusive defamation actions in the Philippines. Adonis, a young journalist working for Bombo Radyo in Davao, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for defaming Prospero Nograles, a parliamentarian and close ally of President Gloria Arroyo. He was convicted in absentia because he could not afford to pay for a lawyer or to attend all the hearings.

Corruption, Greed And Love For Money...

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 10, 2007)- They say greed and money poison the mind, then the heart is also corrupted. An article published by one of the Philippines' oldest and most respected daily, The Manila Times, tells a story of how journalists in Olongapo City accused each other of corruption.

And this happens everywhere in the country, where many journalists fall victims to corruption and illegal activities and all because of dirty money.

Here is the Manila Times story written by correspondent Anthony Bayarong.

OLONGAPO CITY: Journalists here denounced the allegations of a tabloid correspondent accusing them of protecting an illegal gambling or peryahan at the Subic Bay Freeport and in this city.

The allegations appeared in People’s Journal on November 2, 4 and 5, written by Johnny Reblando who is also an RMN news correspondent. He alleged that members of the press covering Subic Bay Freeport provide operators of illegal gambling an ample protection.

Members of the Subic Bay Press Corps (SBPC) said they are concerned about the allegations because the group is the biggest organization of correspondents, with more than 40 members in its roster.

The SBPC has repeatedly asked Reblando to name the alleged media protectors, but he declined, saying, “Kung sino ang pumiyok, guilty [Whoever reacts would be guilty].”

By declining to name names or provide convincing evidence, Reblando made suspects out of all media practitioners, which is wrong, unfair, unethical and unacceptable, maintained the SBPC statement.

According to SBPC, amusement center owner Avelino Menor, in a sworn statement dated November 6, said Reblando harassed him for P20,000.

Menor added that he had been giving Reblando money for “merienda and cell-phone loads” since 2005 which, if proven true, would be contrary to ethical standards of a journalist.

In his sworn statement, Menor said that he had given Reblando P10,000 on October 14 and that the next payment would be on the 15th of November, but Reblando allegedly called Menor on October 30 asking for the remaining balance of P10,000. When Menor could not produce the money, Reblando went ahead with his exposé on illegal gambling at the Subic Freeport and the city.

The sequence of events, as described by Menor, is a classic extortion scheme known to media practitioners as “attack and collect/defend and collect” (AC/DC).

The SBPC is investigating the matter although journalists here urged the Journal Group, RMN Manila and the National Press Corps to initiate its own investigation. (Mindanao Examiner)

Broadcaster Shot In Southern Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 08, 2007) – A Filipino broadcaster was shot and seriously wounded in a daring attack Monday in the southern Philippines, reports said.

Jose Pantoja was shot at around 7 a.m. by a masked gunman with a .45-caliber pistol in front of the Mindanao State University in Iligan City. The attacker fled after the shooting, it said.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the shooting, but the latest attack is sure to raise grave concern again among journalists’ groups in the Philippines and international media organizations.

In August, unidentified gunman also shot and wounded another broadcaster, Manuel Kong, of the radio station dxSN, in Surigao City. The gunman escaped after the attack.

Five journalists had been killed and two others wounded in separate attacks in the Philippines since early this year, according to the National Union of Journalists.

The Philippines is branded as one of the most dangerous place for journalists because of unresolved killings. Dozens of journalists were killed the past years and most of the cases remain unresolved. (Mindanao Examiner)

10 Held In Killing Of Russian Journalist: AP

10 Held In Killing Of Russian Journalist: AP

MOSCOW - A Chechen crime boss, Russian police and security officers were involved in the death of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's top prosecutor said Monday.

But he suggested that someone outside Russia masterminded the killing of the frequent Kremlin critic.

Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika spoke hours after announcing that 10 people were arrested in the October killing of Politkovskaya, a crime that has blackened the reputation of President Vladimir Putin's resurgent Russia.

Chaika's remarks echoed earlier statements by Putin and allies who have suggested Politkovskaya's slaying could have been plotted by Kremlin opponents abroad to damage Russia's image.

The prosecutor said investigators had determined that "only individuals located outside the bounds of the Russian Federation" could have had an interest in killing the journalist.

Politkovskaya, who criticized Putin and revealed human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead Oct. 7 in her Moscow apartment building. Her killing drew international attention, deepening Western concerns about Russia's course and compounding concern about the safety of journalists and Kremlin critics in the country.
Chaika said the killing was set up by a Chechen native who led a Moscow organized crime ring that specialized in contract killings, Russian news agencies reported.

According to the news agencies, he said people involved in Politkovskaya's killing were also involved in the 2004 shooting death of American magazine editor Paul Klebnikov and the killing last year of Russian Central Bank deputy chief Andrei Kozlov.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities said Monday they have arrested and will soon charge 10 people in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya — an outspoken critic of the Kremlin whose death sparked global concern about the safety of reporters in Russia.

"We have made serious progress in the case of the murder of the journalist Politkovskaya," Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks. "As of today, 10 people have been arrested in this case, and literally in the nearest future they will be charged with the commission of this grave crime."

Politkovskaya, a critic of Putin who exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building in October.

Her killing drew international attention, compounding concern about the safety of journalists and Kremlin critics in Russia. Putin sparked outrage abroad when he seemed to dismiss Politkovskaya shortly after her killing, saying her influence on Russian political life was "very minor."

Chaika did not identify those arrested, or say when they were detained.

A Moscow district court approved the arrests of eight suspects in Politkovskaya's killing on Friday, city court spokeswoman Anna Usacheva said, suggesting the suspects were detained within the last few days. There was no immediate explanation for the different numbers of suspects.

Chaika's remarks were the first announcement of arrests in the Oct. 7 killing, which Western governments have urged Russian authorities to solve. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said 13 journalists have been killed in contract-style murders since Putin took office in 2000.

There had been no word of specific progress in the case for months. In April, the journalists' advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said there appeared to have been no progress in the investigation, and called for an international commission or parliamentary inquiry if authorities produced no concrete and conclusive evidence.

Politkovskaya's killing came less than two months before the radiation poisoning death in London of Kremlin critic and former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, which further damaged the Russian leadership's reputation abroad. Litvinenko blamed Putin for both his poisoning and the murder of Politkovskaya.

Days after Politkovskaya's death, Putin suggested her killing could have been plotted by Kremlin foes abroad to harm Russia's image, and his allies have made similar remarks about Litvinenko's death, pointing to Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider who is one of Putin's fiercest critics and lives in Britain, where he has refugee status.

In November, Chaika said a possible foreign connection was among several theories being investigated in the Politkovskaya case.

Politkovskaya, who was 48, was a highly respected journalist whose tireless reporting chronicling the killings, tortures and beatings of civilians by Russian servicemen in Chechnya put her on a collision course with the authorities but won her numerous international awards.

She also wrote a book critical of Putin and his military campaign in Chechnya, documenting widespread abuse of civilians by government troops. And she was a persistent critic of Kremlin-backed Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, accusing his security forces of kidnapping and torturing civilians.

Much speculation about her slaying has focused on Kadyrov, who was prime minister of the war-scarred region when she was killed and became its president in March. He has denied involvement.

Alexei Simonov, chairman of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a leading Russian media rights watchdog, said he and the staff of Politkovskaya's newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, knew of the arrests a week ago.

"I think these are serious arrests based on real evidence," Simonov said, asserting that the motive was "undoubtedly linked to Chechnya."

He said that those arrested likely included the shooter and accomplices who set up surveillance. But while he said he was confident investigators tracked down Politkovskaya's killers, he expressed concern that the truth about who was behind the slaying could prove more elusive.

He said the staff of Novaya Gazeta feared the authorities would "steer the case in the direction of London" and blame Politkovskaya's killing on Berezovsky.

Weeks after the killing the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that investigators were focusing on former Russian police officers linked to crimes against civilians in Chechnya.

Pointing to Russian prosecutors' unenviable record in solving journalists' slayings, Igor Yakovenko, head of the Russian Union of Journalists, voiced caution about the prosecutor's announcement.

"I really want to hope that we have reached a turning point, but I think we should wait for concrete results," Yakovenko said on Ekho Moskvy radio.(AP)

German Journalist, Nagsagawa Ng Peace Seminar Sa Bansa

BACOLOD (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Jun) – Muling naglunsad na naman ng peace journalism seminar sa mga Pinoy reporters ang tanyag na German video-journalist na si Antonia Koop.

Si Koop ang pinuno at isa sa mga founder ng international organization na PECOJON o Peace and Conflict Journalism Network na ang layunin ay makatulong sa mga mamamahayag sa buong mundo sa responsableng paguulat.

Sa Cebu isinagawa ang tatlong araw na seminar na dinaluhan ng ilang dosenang reporters mula sa Mindanao, Visayas at Luzon. Libre ang seminar dahil suportado rin ito ng InWent, isang malaking organisasyon sa Germany.

Huling nagsagawa ng seminar sa Zamboanga City si Koop nitong taon lamang sa kabila ng travel advisory ng mga ibat-ibang embahada sa bansa.Matagal na nag-cover si Koop sa magulong bansa ng Israel at Palestinian. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police Raid Journalist's House In South RP

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Mar) – Police raided the house of a radio journalist in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato on suspicion his wife was involved in illegal gambling.

Police raiders allegedly seized gambling paraphernalia at the house. The raid on Wednesday was part of a continuing crackdown on illegal gambling operation in Cotabato City.

Police were investigating whether the journalist was involved in the nefarious activities of his wife.

It was unknown if the police filed charges against the woman or whether she was detained. There was no immediate statement from the police about the raid.

Illegal numbers games, particularly “Last 2”, are rampant in Cotabato City. (Mindanao Examiner)

RMN News Van Bombed In Southern Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Mar) – An unidentified man bombed a news van of a radio station before dawn Tuesday in Cagayan de Oro City in southern Philippines, but police said there were no reports of injuries or casualties.

The attack occurred just in front of the radio station dxCC, owned by the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN). It also damaged several vehicles and a motorcycle parked outside the building.

Initial police report said the gunman used a Molotov bomb in the attack that also destroyed the station’s billboard. The fire bombing drew widespread condemnation from different media groups and human rights activists.

The radio station said the attack could be politically motivated. It said some of its broadcasters had criticized politicians and talked about government corruption in their programs.

“This is a bad sign, this is an omen of what is to come ahead of the elections,” said Senator Aquilino Pimentel.

Filipinos are to choose 12 senators, congressmen, mayors and local officials in the May elections, but there had been many reports already of poll-related violence in the troubled region of Mindanao, where political warlords maintain private goons.

RMN manager Eleazar Saludar said their commentators have been receiving death threats from unidentified phone callers. (Mindanao Examiner)

WAR, JOURNALISM & STRESS

To Frontline Journalists:

This web site has been developed as a service to front-line journalists. It provides a self-assessment program that you can use to assess your psychological well-being. It has been developed because research has shown that journalists who confront situations of grave danger may, in some cases, develop symptoms of emotional distress. These life threatening situations often occur far from home in situations where the appropriate health care expertise is not available. (The Mindanao Examiner is reposting this article from http://www.conflict-study.com/ in an effort to make it more accessible to as many journalists, who are covering or based in Mindanao.Ed)

Reporters Without Borders Honors Journalists

The 15th Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prizewas presented in Paris on December 2006

The prize was awarded to a journalist, a media, a press freedom defender and a cyber-dissident. The 2006 laureates are:

- U WIN TIN (Burma) in the "Journalist" category- NOVAYA GAZETA (Russia) in the "Media" category- JOURNALISTE EN DANGER (Democratic Republic of Congo) in the "Defender of press freedom" category- GUILLERMO FARINAS HERNANDEZ (Cuba) in the "Cyber dissident" category

The 15th Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France 2006 prize is awarded to:

THE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR who, through their work, attitude or principled stands, demonstrated a strong commitment to press freedom.

The laureate is 76-year-old Burmese journalist U Win Tin, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "subversion" and "anti-government propaganda" in 1989. After more than 17 years in prison and despite faltering health, the country's most renowned journalist will not give way. In his special cell at Insein jail, near Rangoon, Saya, "The Sage", as his comrades call him, refuses to renounce his commitment to the National League for Democracy, robbed by the military junta of a landslide electoral victory in 1990.

He continues to call for the unconditional release of thousands of prisoners of opinion held in the country's prisons. U Win Tin was one of the political mentors of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, also deprived of her freedom. U Win Tin, who has been weakened by a urinary infection and two heart attacks, is only allowed two visits per month.

The other 2006 nominees in this category were Dawit Isaac (Eritrea) and Hollman Felipe Morris (Colombia).

A MEDIA which exemplifies the struggle for the right to inform the public and to be informed.

The prize goes to Russian bi-weekly Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper for which Anna Politkovskaya was working when she was murdered in Moscow on 7 October 2006. Novaya Gazeta carries out investigations regularly exposing corruption in the Russian administration. Also highly critical of government policy, the newspaper carried numerous reports by Anna Politkovskaya on Chechnya, but also on developments in Russian society. The founders of the "New Newspaper" set themselves the objective of being independent and of extending its circulation throughout Russia.The other 2006 nominees in this category were the Democratic Voice of Burma (Burma), Uthayan (Sri Lanka) and An-Nahar (Lebanon).

A DEFENDER of press freedom

The prize is awarded to the organization "Journalist in danger" (JED), based in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Founded in 1997 by journalists Donat M'Baya Tshimanga and Tshivis Tshivuadi, JED is one of Africa's most active and respected press freedom organizations. JED is particularly combative when it comes to reminding easily corrupted journalists of their duty. It is also in the vanguard of the struggle to get the government to reform unfair and illiberal legislation under which journalists are regularly sent to the capital's Penitentiary and Re-education centre in the capital.The other 2006 nominees in this category were the Centre for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET, Mexico), Tadjigoul Begmedova (Turkmenistan) and Anwar al-Bunni (Syria).

A CYBER-DISSIDENT prevented from informing the public online

The prize is awarded to Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (Cuba), head of the independent news agency Cubanacán Press. In February 2006, he began a hunger and thirst strike to demand access to a "free Internet" for all Cubans. The authorities forcibly hospitalized him and put him on a drip to bring his protest to an end, a step which led to even greater international media interest. Guillermo Fariñas has said he is ready to die so that his compatriots can finally have the right to be informed. He has been in intensive care since 20 August because of kidney and heart problems. The authorities did offer to allow him "limited" access to the Internet, but he refused, explaining that he could not honorably exercise his profession as a journalist by only looking at news that had been filtered by the government. He is continuing his work at Cubanacán and has become one of the leading voices among Cuban opposition journalists.The other 2006 nominees in this category were Habib Saleh (Syria) and Yang Zili (China).

Reporters Without Borders pays tribute to Gebran Tuweni Gebran Tuweni, publisher of the daily An-Nahar, was murdered in a car bombing in Beirut on 12 December 2005. He was the third journalist - after Samir Kassir and May Shidiac - to be targeted during 2005. The investigation into his death has now stalled, because of political obstacles and violence which continues to rock the country.

Dancer Yalda Younes will perform at the ceremony in tribute to this major Lebanese press figure in the play NO, written by Zad Moultaka in honour of the Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, created in Beirut on 2 June 2006, to mark the first anniversary of his murder.

The Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize has been awarded since 1992

In honoring a journalist, a media, a press freedom defender and a cyber-dissident, Reporters Without Borders and the Fondation de France draws the attention of public opinion to the wide range of attacks on the right to inform the public and to be informed and for the need to actively support press freedom.

Each prize is worth 2, 500 Euros.

Since it was set up, the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize has been awarded to Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina - 1992), Wang Juntao (China - 1993), André Sibomana (Rwanda - 1994), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria - 1995), Isik Yurtçu (Turkey - 1996), Raúl Rivero (Cuba - 1997), Nizar Nayyuf (Syria - 1998), San San Nweh (Burma - 1999), Carmen Gurruchaga (Spain - 2000), Reza Alijani (Iran - 2001), Grigory Pasko (Russia - 2002), Ali Lmrabet (Morocco - 2003), Hafnawi Ghoul (Algeria- 2004), Zhao Yan (China - 2005).

Several winners have been released just a few weeks or months after receiving their prize. Among them was the Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, awarded the prize on 10 December 2003 and freed on 7 January 2004, Russian journalist Grigory Pasko, laureate in December 2002 and released in January 2003, Burmese journalist San San Nweh, a prize-winner in December 1999 and released in 2001.

The Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France prize is awarded by an international jury made up of the 35 following members:

Ekram Shinwari (Afghanistan), Rubina Möhring (Austria), Nayeem Islam Khan (Bangladesh), Zhanna Litvina (Belarus), Olivier Basille (Belgium), Colette Braeckman (Belgium), Sebastião Salgado (Brazil ), Maung Maung Myint (Burma), François Bugingo (Canada), Carlos Cortes Castillo (Colombia), Miriam Leiva (Cuba), Donat M'Baya Tshimanga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Domenico Amha-Tsion (Eritrea), Francis Charhon (France), Laurent Joffrin (France), Elise Lucet (France), Pierre Veilletet (France), Sabine Christiansen (Germany), Michael Rediske (Germany), Mimmo Candito (Italy), Sailab Mahsud (Pakistan), Ricardo Uceda (Peru), Michel Kik (Qatar), Mircea Toma (Romania), Alexey Simonov (Russia), Omar Faruk Osman (Somalia) Fernando Castelló (Spain), Maria Dolores Masana Argüelles (Spain), Vicente Verdu (Spain), Eva Elmsater (Sweden), George Gordon-Lennox (Switzerland), Gérald Sapey (Switzerland), Sihem Bensedrine (Tunisia) Ethan Zuckerman (United States).(Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières)