Duterte commemorates massacre of media with new promise

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed Wednesday to keep media safe as the Philippines marked the anniversary of a bloody incident in which 58 people, including 32 journalists, were gunned down.

According to the state-run Philippine News Agency, the presidential palace commemorated what has become known as the Maguindanao massacre by promising to protect press members and to end impunity of killings amongst them

"Seven years after the gruesome massacre happened in 2009, justice remains elusive to the victims and to their loved ones,” the agency cited a statement by Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar as saying.

“The nation thus feels a sense of outrage by the turtle-paced grind of the judicial process,” he underlined.

On Nov. 23, 2009, around 100 gunmen -- allegedly employed by a local clan who had ruled Maguindanao province for decades -- opened fire on an election convoy in Ampatuan town in the country’s troubled south.

Among those killed were 32 media workers, in what has become known as the single most deadly attack on journalists worldwide ever.

In the statement, Andanar said to protect media from violations, Duterte had signed an executive order mandating Freedom of Information (FOI) in the executive department, as well as an administrative order to establish a Presidential Task Force on Media Security.

"We shall roll out the online version of the FOI executive order on Friday, November 25,” he added.

”Through these twin government initiatives, we hope to make the Philippines known not only for its vibrant democracy, where freedom of the speech and of the press reign supreme, but also a safe place to work for members of the media and journalists.”

On Wednesday, activities took place countrywide to commemorate the massacre, with some people expressing grief that of the 197 accused none have been convicted.

The Philippine Star cited court records as showing that 114 people had been arrested, but no judgment had been passed due to “the large number of suspects”.

The country's National Union of Journalists described Nov. 23 in a statement as a day that will forever live in infamy.

It underlined that the incident was the worst electoral violence in the country’s recent history.

“If anything, the State... has abandoned most of them [the victims' orphans and widows]... to lives of misery and uncertainty, reduced to wondering where to get their sustenance from day to day,” it said.