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| Photo by AFP |
On October 3, Percy Lapid, a veteran radio broadcaster and columnist was shot inside his car by unknown assailants on a motorcycle. Last month, fellow radio journalist Rey Blanco was stabbed to death. Blanco and Lapid are the first and second journalists to be killed under the administration of Pres. Bongbong Marcos who took office in June. Both broadcasters are known for their outspoken commentaries; Lapid, a staunch critic of corrupt public officials, has openly condemned former Pres. Duterte’s violent war on drugs and the Marcos government’s historical distortion campaign and corruption involving anomalies in sugar imports, as reported by The New York Times recently.
The Philippines remains to be inarguably a dangerous place for journalists—for citizens unabashed and unafraid to express dissent and criticism against the government. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines released data that there have been 195 journalists killed in the Philippines since 1986 and in terms of the medium, most who were killed come from radio.
It is an understatement to say that this is a grave concern, the death of journalists shows the dying lifeblood of our country’s democracy—a blow to our constitutionally protected freedom of speech and expression. There is no democracy without a free press, and a free press guarantees that institutions and their officials be held accountable.
So the statement of Malacañang in August claiming that “the freedom of speech is prevailing in this country” is buffoonery—an exact statement encapsulating the clownery we find ourselves in as citizens of this country ever since we let the son of a dictator assume office willy-nilly.
It is already a mischaracterization to call these attacks on journalists a wake-up call. An alarming situation that happens once is a wake-up call—we are past that stage—the callings for justice are innumerable as we have been seeing the ruinous system and culture of impunity reign in our country, which does not only let injustice get away but breeds it and feeds on the people’s fears and thrives when citizens become divided by the stream of misinformation and disinformation.
The killing of Percy Lapid is no longer a wake-up call, it shows that our country’s democracy is on its deathbed.
