Altermidya Network condemns the shooting of journalist Manuel Garcellano of alternative media outfit Umani Productions.

Garcellano and another Umani journalist, Reymark Umpacan, were interviewing farmers in Sitio Ricafort in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan on January 28, after learning about a reported demolition of farmers’ homes two days before.

Garcellano and Umpacan were gathered with a team of paralegals and peasant advocates when a group of five guards approached them and fired a warning shot. The group ran in panic and dispersed.

The armed guards, hired by the Araneta family claiming the Bulacan land, caught Garcellana. When he broke free and started to run again, the guards fired multiple shots, causing him to stop.

The guards took his camera and punched him on the face when he resisted. They also took his other belongings including his bag with his smartphone, camera batteries and charger, Zoom audio recorder, SD cards, IDs and cash.

Garcellano, together with paralegal members and the farmers they were interviewing, were made to lie face down on the ground. Garcellano was able to see the guards firing at the feet of the elderly farmers who were already on the ground.

He himself was fired at, but the shot missed hitting his leg. Garcellano would later find what seemed like a bullet hole on his pants.

The entire incident took 30 minutes from the first shot, according to Garcellano. Before the guards left the group, one of them brought Garcellano’s monopod mount and destroyed it in front of the journalist.

The group filed a blotter report at the Bulacan PNP today, January 31.

The Altermidya stands in solidarity with our colleagues in Umani Productions and the San Jose del Monte farmers in seeking accountability from the Araneta family’s guards.

The shooting and intimidation of journalists are a blatant violation of press freedom. Journalists should not be hindered in covering stories especially those that involve human rights abuses against farmers and marginalized sectors.