BLOG: Will Aquino's Election Victory Mean Victory for the Media in the Philippines?
Election brings new hope for media freedom in "most deadly country for journalists"
Alison Bethel McKenzie, IPI Deputy Director
Nearly a month after the Filipino people voted overwhelmingly for Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, son of former president Corazon Aquino, to lead the nation, the election became official Tuesday with the final count of votes. It is a victory for the 15 million people who put their faith in Aquino (who won over Joseph Estrada by more than 5.7 million votes). But I wonder if it will also be a victory for the nation’s often embattled media.
Last year, The Philippines was the most deadly country for journalists, according to IPI’s Death Watch count. That distinction was made possible largely because of the 32 journalists who were killed in the so-called “Maguindanao massacre,” in which a convoy carrying journalists who were accompanying a political candidate was ambushed by 100 gunmen at a roadside checkpoint on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines. In all, 38 journalists were killed in The Philippines in 2009. And this year, on April 14, Reuters reported the shooting death of a freelance radio reporter by unknown assailants, also in Mindanao.
Some media observers and practitioners have expressed optimism about Aquino when he takes office on July 1 for a six-year term, particularly on the issue of impunity. After all, he has a personal stake in the issue. The murderer of Noynoy’s father, the pro-democracy hero Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., has still not been found and prosecuted 27 years after the assassination.
“How Senator Aquino will rebuild the five pillars of our criminal justice system to put an end to this culture of impunity will ultimately determine the success or failure of his administration,” writes attorney Harold Roque Jr. for Manila Standard Today. “The problems are systemic and require painful, incisive and difficult decisions. … It would entail prosecuting the rich and powerful, many of whom supported him, and the political will to improve the credibility and capacity of our investigators.
“Daunting as the task may be, I believe the task of restoring the rule of law in this country is possible because of Aquino,” says Roque. Let’s hope he’s right.
Luis V. Teodoro, a former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, says in his blog for BusinessWorld: “Mr. Aquino can immediately do something to minimize if not stop the killings and other attacks on journalists by announcing, once he assumes office, a policy, complexly opposite that of the (outgoing president Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo government’s zero tolerance of the impunity that has encouraged extrajudicial killings, including the killing of journalists and media workers.”
Teodoro reports that under Arroyo’s nine-year regime, 74 journalists were murdered, increasing the total number of murdered journalists to 112 since 1986.
For his part, Aquino has promised to stamp out corruption in The Philippines. I hope that he lives up to his promises and the pro-democracy legacy of his mother, the first democratically-elected woman president of The Philippines and the woman who officially restored press freedom and other rights when she took office in 1986 after the assassination of her husband. He must address the serious issue of impunity for the murderers of journalists, politicians, human rights defenders, judges and lawyers. It is also hoped that he will revisit the Freedom of Information Bill laying dormant in Congress. The ability for citizens, and journalists, to openly view government and other documents will go a long way in Aquino’s fight against corruption.
In the end, the man himself has promised some progress, especially in terms of fighting corruption, in the first two years of his administration. I, for one, am looking forward to it.