Media, citizens, students
remember Maguindanao

CITIZENS, CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS, AND STUDENTS joined media groups in the 1,000th day commemoration of the Maguindanao Massacre today, August 19, at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.

The program started past four in the afternoon under gloomy skies as the public gathered under a tent at the Bantayog to remember the 58 people who were murdered in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

Among the schools represented in the gathering were Polytechnic University of the Philippines Manila, Unibersidad de Manila, University of Sto Tomas, the UP College of Mass Communications Graduate Students Association, and even the De La Salle University in Lipa Batangas.

Joining them were journalists from the Philippine Press Institute, the national association of newspapers, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

The commemoration is expected to last the whole night, from August 19 to the morning of August 20, Monday. It will be marked with messages from relatives of the victims of the Maguindanao Massacre, performances by student groups and Concerned Artists of the Philippines, and the screening of PCIJ documentaries on media murders.

Speakers gave the participants a short briefing on the status of the multiple murder case against the Ampatuans.

As well, the students took the opportunity to ask questions about the massacre case, and of other media murder cases.

Speakers from the NUJP pointed out that despite the restoration of democracy in 1986, the killing of reporters have continued and even worsened. More than 170 media workers have already been killed in the Philippines since 1986, and the Philippines was listed as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists in 2010.

Even with the assumption of President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2010, the killings have also continued, as shown by a recent 2011 study by Atty. Al Parreno for the Asia Foundation.

But PCIJ Executive Director Malou Mangahas pointed out that the concept of impunity was not limited to the murder of journalists. Mangahas stressed that while the murder of journalists was significant in that it signaled a breakdown in the democratic process, other people were being murdered as well – members of people’s movements, human rights workers, and members of the religious movement.

Some drew parallels from the days of Martial Law. Poet and writer Pete Lacaba read a poem he wrote during the dark years of martial rule, saying that he thought the poem just as apt in describing today’s situation regarding press freedom.

University of the Philippines College of Music professor Lester Demetillo did his own rendition of the flower era classic Blowing in the Wind while strumming a guitar.

And poet/songwriter/singer Jess Santiago changed the lyrics of one of his popular songs to make it more appropriate for the commemoration.