RSF: ‘Impunity in Phl lingers, 15 years after Ampatuan massacre’

BAGUIO CITY (November 23, 2024) -- Press freedom watchdog Reporters sans frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) is urging the Philippine government “to take decisive action to end impunity for crimes against the press”, at the heels of Saturday’s 15th anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre, touted as “the deadliest single attack on journalists in world history during which 32 media professionals were killed”.

The Ampatuan massacre claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 media professionals, making this tragic event “the largest massacre of journalists in history”, RSF noted.   

“It is appalling that, 15 years after this unspeakable massacre, the Philippines is still one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with 43 more media professionals murdered since. We stand with the victims’ families, demanding strong action from the Filipino government to end the impunity of both the perpetrators and masterminds of crimes against journalists," Cédric Alviani RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau Director remarked.

Alviani went on to lament that, “it took a decade before the first convictions were handed down,” while citing that 44 perpetrators have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from six years to life, “yet 88 other suspects remain at large”.  This prolonged failure to achieve justice, he said, “highlights the authorities’ inability to curb violence against journalists.”

The RSF said it has documented that since the massacre in November 2009, an additional 43 journalists have been killed in the Philippines, making it “the most dangerous country for the profession in the Asia-Pacific region”.

The RSF went on to lament how even with a Presidential Task Force on Media Safety put in place in 2016, “failed to curb this violence and the community of journalists continues to pay a heavy toll.” It cited recent victims: radio host Cresenciano Bunduquin, who was shot dead in May 2023 after receiving death threats, and radio journalist Percy Lapid, who was killed near his home in Manila in October 2022. 

RSF though avowed it is working with the authorities to combat impunity, citing that shortly before Palawan former governor Joel T. Reyes, the alleged mastermind of the 2011 murder of journalist Gerry Ortega surrendered in September 2024, RSF and the international coalition A Safer World for the Truth shared exclusive information with the Philippine authorities about where Reyes was hiding.

Alviani also noted that Filipino journalists also face harassment and legal intimidation, noting “women journalists are particularly targeted with gender-based violence, including threats of rape, cyberbullying, and doxing (publication of personal information with malicious intent)”.

The Philippines ranks 134th out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.