THE Global Impunity Index 2021 released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) last October ranked the Philippines as the seventh most dangerous country for journalists worldwide.
The big four in the impunity index are the war-torn countries of Somalia, Syria, Iraq and South Sudan. Impunity means that actions like threats, attacks and murder have no consequences—the perpetrators (a person, group of persons or an institution) go unpunished.
As for the Philippines, the country retained its rank in 2020, CPJ reported.
Reports said the CPJ index states that the Philippines still has 13 unsolved murders involving journalists on Sept. 1, 2011-Aug. 31, 2021.
According to CPJ, its Impunity Index methodology is calculated based on the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population from Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2021.
The latest murder of a Filipino journalist happened in Calbayog City, Samar around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
The victim, Jesus “Jess” Malabanan, was shot to death while he was watching a television show with family inside their store. He succumbed to a gunshot wound in the head.
He is the second Filipino journalist murdered in less than two months. Last Oct. 30, former Sunstar Superbalita Davao correspondent Orlando Dinoy was shot to death inside his rented apartment in Davao del Sur. A murder complaint has been filed against Dinoy’s killer who is still at large, and the the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) declared that Dinoy’s murder was not related to his media work.
In Cebu City last July 22, radio blocktimer Rey Cortes was shot to death after his program at dyRB. The Cebu City Police Office has not yet charged any person involved in the killing.
As to Malabanan’s murder, the journalist’s wife told the police that her husband was shot at close range. The wife said she could not see the gunman’s face as it was dark.
Malabanan was a correspondent for the Manila Standard, Bandera and Reuters.
Fellow journalist Manuel Mogato wrote on his Facebook page that Malabanan had helped Reuters with its stories on the drug war in the Philippines launched by the Duterte administration. The stories won Reuters a Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 2018.
“I met Jess when he was a defense reporter in the late 1980s and helped me with stories in Pampanga when I was the Reuters political correspondent for 15 years from 2003,” Mogato wrote.
Malabanan’s murder drew condemnation from press organizations, including the Pampanga Press Club and PTFoMS.
The PTFoMS, on its Facebook page, said Malacañang “condemned in the strongest terms” the killing of Malabanan and has launched its own probe.
PTFoMS Executive Director Joel Sy Egco, who said Malabanan is his personal friend, vowed to seek justice.
“This cowardly killing in the midst of a pandemic is truly unforgivable. We will get to the bottom of this and will stop at nothing in bringing to justice the perpetrators of this despicable crime,” he said.
The PTFoMS said in its Facebook page that Malabanan sought its help in 2017 and he was given police security. The office did not divulge why Malabanan asked for its help.
Egco reminded all journalists to report to PTFoMS “any threat or harassment so that they can be acted upon immediately.”
“Always remember that the PTFoMS is here to serve you 24/7. We can provide you with necessary assistance and security if you feel that your lives are being threatened in any way,” he said.
The PTFoMS was created by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. Its mandate is to “safeguard press freedom by protecting the life, liberty and security of our media workers,” it said.
It is good to hear statements of condemnation because it shows that the society is not yet indifferent to media killings; however, statements of condemnation can only do so much.
Bringing the perpetrators to justice must be the ultimate goal. If culprits in media killings could still get away most of the time, this could have a chilling effect on journalists.