IFJ scores arroyo over 'insult' on media

MANILA, Philippines - An international media group blasts President Arroyo for insulting the media with her claim that Philippine media is "the freest in the whole world." The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) backed the outrage expressed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) over the President’s remark. "One of the most dangerous countries in the world for practicing journalists is the Philippines, where 60 journalists have been murdered because of their work since President Arroyo came to power in 2001," IFJ Asia-Pacific said in a statement on its website. "The suggestion that media in the Philippines is the most free in the world is to insult the families of those murdered journalists," it added. IFJ noted more journalists have been killed during President Arroyo's administration than under any other president, including the late Ferdinand Marcos. Citing figures from the NUJP, the IFJ said at least five journalists have been killed in the Philippines so far in 2008. "A significant contributor to the culture of impunity regarding attacks on journalists in the Philippines is the failure of the police and law enforcers to pursue and solve crimes of violence against journalists, allowing the perpetrators to remain free to intimidate more journalists and their families," IFJ Asia-Pacific said. Only last Aug. 31, families of four journalists in the Philippines received text messages claiming the journalists had been in an accident in Capiz, and three had died. The journalists issued a statement the next day to denounce the text message as false, "uncalled for and malicious", particularly following the murder of two Radio Mindanao Network journalists, Martin Roxas and Dennis Cuesta, in separate incidents in early August. For its part, the NUJP in a statement Sept. 10 praised journalists in the Philippines for continuing to display a courageous commitment to "their duty of delivering information that is crucial to empowering our people as they make decisions about their individual and collective lives." It backed the statement of NUJP president Jose Torres Jr., who said, "Indeed, if the Philippine media are, as Mrs Arroyo describes them, the 'freest in the world', it is no thanks to her or her administration but to the continued vigilance of the independent press and journalists and the people they serve." The IFJ represents over 600,000 in 122 countries worldwide. - GMANews.TV