The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) slammed the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Jose Torres Jr. for downplaying media killings and denying the existence of a culture of impunity, saying such remarks endanger journalists further by distorting the reality of press freedom in the country.
In a statement, the NUJP said that minimizing the problem “does not make journalists safer” and stressed that all cases of slain media workers should be presumed work-related until proven otherwise.
“This presumption is necessary precisely because of the enduring climate of impunity in the Philippines, where perpetrators, especially the masterminds, are rarely identified, prosecuted or convicted,” the group said.
The NUJP said that dismissing nearly half of the 200 journalist killings since 1986 as unrelated to the victims’ work ignores the continuing failures of state institutions to deliver justice.
It cited the 2009 Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao, where 32 journalists and media workers were killed, as a stark example.
“It took an entire decade for the case to yield convictions, in 2019, and even then, many suspects remain at large,” the group said.
International data also contradicts Torres’ claim. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked the Philippines ninth in its 2024 Global Impunity Index, with at least 18 journalist murders still unsolved. The country has been on the list for 17 consecutive years.
“These figures tell a different story from the one painted by the PTFoMS,” the NUJP said.
While the NUJP welcomed the recent memorandum of agreement between PTFoMS and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to curb red-tagging and police harassment of journalists, it said such initiatives must be accompanied by “transparency, accountability and a sense of urgency.”
“What will make a difference is ending impunity by ensuring that every case of violence against the press is investigated swiftly and independently, and that both assailants and masterminds are brought to justice,” the NUJP said.
The group called on the government to acknowledge, rather than downplay, the dangers faced by journalists in the Philippines—one of the world’s deadliest countries for media workers.
