By ALYSSA MAE CLARIN
with reports from Jeanelle Ungriano
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Journalists and press freedom advocates lit candles in front of the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines Diliman as they called for justice for the journalists and media workers killed so far in Gaza, as well as for the recently slain Filipino radio broadcaster Juan Jumalon.

Based on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ report on Nov. 7, at least 37 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead. Majority of those who died were Palestinians with 32 deaths, four Israelis and one Lebanese.

Though miles away from Palestine, the Philippines shares the same harrowing situation as the country remains at the 8th spot in CPJ’s Global Impunity Index. This means many cases of journalist killings remain unsolved as of this writing.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also joined the call for justice of the slain journalists in Gaza, and called for the conviction of perpetrators of media killings in the country.

“In the past ten years, 80 percent of the perpetrators of journalist killings remain free,” said NUJP secretary general and Bulatlat editor-in-chief Ronalyn Olea.

Read: PH continues to decline in global press freedom rankings

“Out of the almost 200 cases of journalist killings in our country, only 11 percent of the cases have resulted in convictions,” she said, adding that many of those convicted were just the hired killers but not the masterminds.

“We have seen the government create task forces and identify suspects for the media killings. However, we have yet to obtain real conviction even in high profile cases like Percy Mabasa whose alleged mastermind continues to remain free even a year after the incident,” Olea added.

The organization also condemned the killing of another local radio broadcaster in the Philippines. The brazen killing happened shortly after the commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

Juan “DJ Johnny Walker” Jumalon, a radio broadcaster for 94.7 Calamba Gold FM, was killed by unidentified attackers in his own home in Calamba, Misamis Occidental as he was doing the morning greeting for his radio program last Sunday.

According to initial police reports, a man asked for permission to enter Jumalon’s booth to announce “something important,” before barging inside the radio station and shooting Jumalon twice in the face. The suspect grabbed Jumalon’s gold necklace before fleeing.

The murder was caught live on Facebook, and was even seen by the listeners of his radio program “Pahapyod sa Kabuntangon.”

His family brought him to Calamba District Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

International watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for a “swift and thorough investigation” into the killing of the radio journalist and said that the wanton killing of the radio reporter shows that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government is not doing enough to protect the press.

On the other hand, Marcos Jr. condemned the killing and said that he instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct a thorough investigation to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Attacks on journalists will not be tolerated in our democracy, and those who threaten the freedom of the press will face the full consequences of their actions,” Marcos, Jr. said via his social media post on Sunday.

On Monday, the police released a sketch of one of the suspects who is believed to be the companion and lookout of the gunman. However, the Misamis Occidental Police said that they have yet to identify the suspect.

“If not us, journalists, who will advocate and call to bring them justice?” Olea asked. “And that is why I hope that we will never forget and continue to remind the public of our fallen colleagues.”

If confirmed to be work-related, Jumalon is the 199th journalist killed since 1986 and the fourth under the Marcos administration, based on NUJP’s records. (JJE, DAA)