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"The delivery of justice for Ampatuan Massacre victims will act like a beam of light shone into a great darkness that is the escalating climate of fear and impunity under the Duterte administration."
Nonoy Espina of the NUJP called on state security forces to understand what media do -- that they are being critical not just because it wants to but because it needs to as the fourth estate.
Children of the victims of the #AmpatuanMassacre perform a song at the massacre site in sitio Masalay, barangay Salman, Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, Nov. 17 to commemorate the 10th year of the single deadliest attack on journalists in recent history.
“The government and the state remain unbothered by the massacre, considering they were the victims of the agents of state itself.”
"If there would be no conviction, I'm sorry to say press freedom is dead."
Imagine a world without impunity, where everyone is free to exercise their right to freedom of expression and information and able to access, generate and share ideas and information in any way they choose, without fear.
We do.
"We firmly believe that legitimately exercising a right and seeking appropriate redress at the proper forum when that right is violated can never be penalized or begrudged."
"For his 43 years of steadfast and outstanding recognitions, Ilagan has practiced critical, socially responsible, and morally upright service.”
“The government’s view is: if you don’t want to be red-tagged then you need to condemn certain parties, which isn’t what a journalist does.”
The NUJP reminded state security forces forces that “ their mandate is to preserve and protect democracy, along with all the rights and freedoms that go with it, not stifle.”
Like other human rights defenders, journalists writing about human rights have been treated as targets by those who have no respect for life and liberties of the Filipino people.
Although this law has been amended by Republic Act no. 10640 in 2014, journalists are still being pressured into signing their names as witnesses in anti-drug operations, sometimes even without them actually witnessing the operation, in exchange for the information they would need for their stories.
"We need to speak up and say what really happened, they [officers accused] should be held accountable for the offenses they have made."
The petitioners called on legislators to “consider the greater good while upholding the right of media/art organizations to decide the path it should take as part of its constitutional right to freedom of speech, of expression and of the press.”
“What they did made me like a criminal. They took my mugshot, my fingerprint…I could not just let it be,” -- Margarita Valle
According to news report, the CIDG said that Valle’s arrest was a case of mistaken identity.
The NUJP said that while it was important to secure the country and the people from the threats of terrorism, the bill would only do more harm than good by pushing the people to surrender their rights and liberties as citizens of a democratic country.
"It is our way of keeping the fight for justice alive, as well as condemning all violations of human rights. And hopefully, before all our candles run out, justice would be given to all victims.”
“The reason why government regard the free press as the enemy is because the government fear the free press of its power.”
"The Duterte administration uses the entire coercive power of the State to attack and quell the independent press and these attacks are instigated and led by the madman in Malacañang Palace himself."
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