As the world remains in grave shock and dismay over the wanton killing of 58 civilians, including 32 journalists and media workers in Maguindanao almost a year ago, the UP Journalism Club joins the rest of the journalism community in protesting against the most atrocious assault against the media ever recorded in recent history.
UPJC expresses solidarity with other media groups in the fight for justice for all the innocent victims of impunity that festers in Philippine society. We convey to the victims’ families, friends and colleagues our sympathy and assurance of unity to continue to demonstrate our sorrow, rage, and determination to axe the flourishing culture of impunity and grave abuse of power.
For almost a year, we have been condemning and expressing our deep grief and ire over this gruesome event, yet the dearth of definitive action to defend human rights and media freedom reveals the grim failure of Philippine democracy. We demand nothing less from this government than the swift execution of its constitutional duty to decisively take all steps necessary to bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.
As media practitioners, we should –in all possible ways– support and defend the brave struggle for media freedom and security for all journalists in the Philippines.
The contents of this post were retrieved from a Wayback Machine snapshot of UPJC’s old website dated Nov. 26, 2010, 15:56:38 GMT.
