SECOND UPDATE: NUJP’s final  list of media casualties at the end of the article.

Someone on Facebook asked why people — we journalists, specifically — are saying, “Stop killing journalists” when it should, under the circumstances, be, “Stop killing” – period. That made me think, and I had to admit to myself that in the current case (the “Maguindanao massacre” or, as some colleagues insist, the “Ampatuan massacre” since it happened in the town of Ampatuan), we should really be condemning the fact that innocent people, regardless of their professions, were killed in such a gruesome manner.

If anything, the cry ought to be, “Stop killing women” since many of the victims, including two lawyers and a number of reporters, were women. Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu had tasked his wife Genalyn as well as two sisters of his to go to the Commission on Election (Comelec) office in Shariff Aquak to file his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for governor. He had thought that the people who had threatened to harm him if he insisted on filing his candidacy would be good Muslims and not touch the women, but he was wrong.

The killers disregarded the Koranic injunction not to harm women and proceeded to slaughter them; according to some reports, the women were even raped before they were killed. Just how barbaric the killings were were articulated by Vice Mayor Mangudadatu himself, who said his wife was “shot in the mouth, her eyes pierced, her breasts also shot, her legs mutilated, and her private part slashed four times.”

I’ve heard some people blame the vice mayor for the women’s deaths because he had deliberately placed them in harm’s way, but really, who would have thought the killers would be so inhuman? Mangudadatu had obviously intended to confound his enemies by using women as his emissaries to the Comelec, but the beasts responded by doing the unthinkable.

The vehicle of UNTV. Photo courtesy of Dann Pantoja of Peacebuilders Community, Inc.

Unfortunately, the unthinkable was also done to reporters who were brought in to cover the filing of Mangudadatu’s COC. It was an event — after all, he was going to go up against the acknowledged leader of Maguindanao — and as such the journalists were there on legitimate coverage. The vice mayor had also obviously thought his enemies would not try anything because the media were watching, but he was wrong.

If the alleged witness in the carnage is to be believed, then the journalists were also killed “so that no one would talk about the incident.” Which brings me back to the Facebook user’s comment I had mentioned at the beginning of this article. Why do we say “Stop killing journalists,” as if journalists were the only victims of the massacre? I am not justifying it, but I need to say that as a profession, journalists are one of the most targeted groups in the Philippines for attacks. The latest data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) show that 104 journalists have been killed since 1986. The worst part is that practically none of the killings have been solved — not to the extent that the masterminds, not just the paid gunmen, were caught and imprisoned.

This is the fear that we journalists have in the Maguindanao massacre. Government claims there will be no sacred cows in the investigation and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, but we have heard the same thing before. So far, justice has eluded our fallen colleagues.

Photo courtesy of Dann Pantoja of Peacebuilders Community, Inc.

While it may be said that justice eludes everyone in this country, it is especially troublesome if  media are the victims because attacks on our profession are attacks on democracy itself. We are not special by any stretch of the imagination, and we do not enjoy privileges that other people are deprived of. What we are are practitioners of a freedom that all of us are supposed to enjoy but are all too often prevented from doing so. If we are free to speak, then the rest of the country is free. But if we are muzzled, censored, threatened, executed, or summarily killed, everyone’s freedom of expression is compromised. And when freedom of expression is compromised, then our very democracy is in danger.

So we continue to say, “Stop killing journalists” — not because we are the only victims, but because each journalist’s death is a nail driven into the coffin of our freedom and democracy.

Photo by Rene B. Lumawag

UPDATE:

Final tally according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP):

1. Adolfo, Benjie, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
2. Araneta, Henry, Radio DZRH, General Santos City
3. Arriola, Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac,” UNTV, General Santos City
4. Bataluna, Rubello, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
5. Betia, Arturo, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
6. Cabillo, Romeo Jimmy, Midland Review, Tacurong City
7. Cablitas, Marites, News Focus, General Santos City
8. Cachuela, Hannibal, Punto News, Koronadal City
9. Caniban, John, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
10. Dalmacio, Lea, Socsargen News, General Santos City
11. Decina, Noel, Periodico Ini, General Santos City
12. Dela Cruz, Gina, Saksi News, General Santos City
13. Doheilo, Eugene, UNTV, General Santos City
14. Duhay, Jhoy, Gold Star Daily, Tacurong City
15. Gatchalian, Jun, Davao City
16. Legarte, Bienvenido, Jr., Prontiera News, Koronadal City
17. Lupogan, Lindo, News Media Gazette, Davao City
18. Maravilla, Ernesto “Bart,” Bombo Radyo, Koronadal City
19. Merisco, Rey, Periodico Ini, Koronadal City
20. Momay, Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, Midland Review, Tacurong City
21. Montaño, Marife “Neneng,” Saksi News, General Santos City
22. Morales, Rosell, News Focus, General Santos City
23. Nuñez, Victor, UNTV, General Santos City
24. Perante, Ronnie, Gold Star Daily correspondent, Koronadal City
25. Parcon, Joel, Prontiera News, Koronadal City
26. Razon, Fernando “Rani,” Periodico Ini, General Santos City
27. Reblando, Alejandro “Bong,” Manila Bulletin, General Santos City
28. Salaysay, Napoleon, Mindanao Gazette, Cotabato City
29. Santos, Gatchalian, Davao City (media affiliation not known)
30. Subang, Ian, Socsargen Today, General Santos City
31. Teodoro, Andres “Andy,” Central Mindanao Inquirer, Tacurong City

Additional name from UNTV:
1. Evardo, Jolito

]]> http://thirdworldjournal.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/stop-killing-journalists/feed/ 0 jnjqn http://thirdworldjournal.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/its-carbon-footprint-2/ http://thirdworldjournal.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/its-carbon-footprint-2/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:48:09 +0000 jon joaquin http://thirdworldjournal.wordpress.com/?p=342 ]]> The continuation of my article on information and communication technology (ICT)’s carbon footprint was preempted by the Maguindanao massacre last Monday, so let me pick up on it today. I had said last Tuesday that the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII), led by its ICT “figurehead” (or “ghost in the machine,” as he calls himself) Andre Fournier, is shifting its focus from technology per se to making technology an integral part of business. The chamber is also championing the cause of sustainability, and one aspect of that is making technology more environment-friendly.

Andre related a conversation he had with councilors Leo Avila and Peter Laviña in which the two gentlemen asked him how the city government can save on electricity (not just to save money but, more importantly, to reduce its carbon footprint). Andre said he gave one very simple suggestion: turn off the city government’s computers for one hour during lunchtime. It’s an obvious solution that no one really thinks about; we are either ignorant or just too lazy to shut down our computers when we are not using them. Part of the reason is that there is the mistaken notion that turning a computer off and on repeatedly would damage it.

“As an IT professional,” Andre told reporters covering last week’s Club 888 Forum, “I can tell you that the only thing that can possibly get damaged when you turn a computer off and on repeatedly is the power button.” Nothing in a computer’s hardware and software suffers when it gets turned off and on in frequent intervals. And even if there were, the benefits in terms of power savings (and lower carbon footprint) more than make up for them. Computers use an average of 160 watts of electricity per hour; multiply this by the number of computers at City Hall and at the City Council building (which could easily run in the hundreds) and you’ve got a whopping Davao Light bill on computers alone. Turning them off for one hour will certainly save the city a significant amount and reduce the city’s carbon footprint.

Andre and I had coffee a few days after the Club 888 Forum and he talked at length about the other projects and thrusts the chamber is engaged in. The most significant is its partnership with IBM and ICT Davao in the advocacy of addressing the needs of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) through innovation and technology. The three groups are launching the SME Center (located at the DCCCII office) to expose SMEs to information technology as a business enabler. The center will also serve as the heard of the Davao City SME Center as it extends IBM’s aim of making a substantial contribution to SMEs, particularly in cities like Davao where IBM’s “geo-expansion” initiatives are concentrated.

Under the partnership, IBM is making available to DCCCII a Blade Server (inclusive of peripherals and enablement kit) worth P1.4 million. ICT Davao, for its part, commits itself to promoting and marketing the SME Center as a training and advocacy tool for Davao SMEs, as well as access to the SME Toolkit and other open source tools. It will also manage and oversee the maintenance of the desktop computers and other IT peripherals.

“This is the new thrust of the chamber,” Andre told me. “We reevaluated how we were selling the ICT industry, and we realized that we were seeing the other industries as just clients. ICT should be an enabler. It is not just another car on the road but a flyover that gives industries a shortcut to growth.” To be continued

Photo by Cocoy Sexcion/Sarangani Information Office

Let me express my deepest condolences to the families of media colleagues who were killed in last Monday’s massacre in Maguindanao. It was a crime that attacked not just the journalists but our very Constitution itself; as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) put it, the Maguindanao carnage “strikes at the very foundations of democracy.”

In a statement put out before the fate of at least 12 journalists were known, the NUJP said: “To take hostage journalists who were merely going about their job of informing the public worsens the already heinous crime and elevates it into an assault on the Constitution itself and the freedom of the press and of expression it enshrines, and the people’s right to know which these freedoms serve.”

That the massacre happened a few days after Efren Peñaflorida made Filipinos proud by winning the CNN Heroes of the Year Award must not be taken lightly. On the one hand we have countrymen like Efren who selflessly give of themselves in order to improve the lives of the less fortunate among us; on the other hand we have barbarians among who think nothing of snuffing out the lives of fellow Filipinos — women at that — just to achieve their evil purposes.  We have managed to get ourselves in the world’s headlines for two completely different reasons, and the rest of humanity is probably wondering at our schizophrenia.

I’m not sure if there is an official initiative from media groups to do this, but I am taking the cue from my friend and colleague Chris Fabian and am calling on journalists (and our friends) to wear black this week to show our grief and anger at the Maguindanao massacre. I did something like this when photojournalist Geneboyd Lumawag died in 2004, wearing black every Friday for more than a year until my black shirt simply died on me. Now I have several black shirts in my closet, and I swear to put them to good use. And since the massacre happened on a Monday, it will be Black Monday for me for the coming months.

It’s actually interesting that the massacre happened less than two weeks after the fifth anniversary of Geneboyd’s killing; even more interesting is the fact that his father, veteran photojournalist “Tatay” Rene Lumawag, mounted an exhibit in his honor at SM City Davao. The clincher? The exhibit, titled “Remember when…” has been extended to Friday, November 27. It’s like there had been an anticipation that there would be a need for journalists to have a rallying point, one that would express to the world how angry we are that journalists, in this day and age, continue to be the targets of various attacks.

The pictures on exhibit don’t directly touch on this theme, but the very presence of the photos are testament to the need to protect freedom of speech and of expression. This country would be so much poorer — both literally and figuratively — without the freedom to report on what is happening around us. Tatay Rene, Geneboyd, and the thousands of people who practice journalism risk their lives so that the powers that be continue to respect this freedom which, in the long run, is to be used by everyone, not just the media. As someone — and I apologize that I can no longer remember who, and Google was no help — has said: “The role of free media in a free society is to be free.”

Google, of course, denies this, saying its servers generate only 0.2 gram of CO2 per search. Regardless, it cannot be denied that the IT industry as a whole has a large carbon footprint (defined as “the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event or product”) generated from manufacturing, transport, sales, actual use, and, finally, disposal. Most of these aspects are beyond the control of the average user, but there are a few steps we can take to minimize the environmental impact of our computer use. This is one of the new thrusts of the IT committee of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII), and its IT figurehead (or “ghost in the machine,” as he describes himself now) Andre Fournier, spent some time with me to explain it.

Andre was the ICT (information and communication technology) committee chair of the DCCCII for some time and as such was among the major reasons there are so many call centers in Davao City now. He has done much to promote the ICT industry, and now, on an unofficial basis, he is heading DCCCII’s move towards making ICT an integral part of businesses themselves. These days the talk is no longer about technology per se but about how these technologies can benefit farmers, store owners, manufacturers, resort owners — everyone that has a stake in business. The thrust is on sustainability, and this involves making ICT environment-friendly.

LCD (left) vs CRT (right)

The first program is the phase-out of CRT (cathode ray tube) computer monitors — you know, those large-bodied monitors — by 2011. More than a hundred years old as a technology (it was invented in 1897), CRTs have been in use for decades and still account for much of the television sets and computer monitors in developing countries like the Philippines. One of the reasons they are so prevalent here is that first world countries dump them here — donating old computers that, while still useful, also put a strain on our resources when we use them. CRTs are notoriously power-hungry, eating up to 80 watts while more modern LCD (liquid crystal display) screens consume 35 watts –less than half.

For this reason, DCCCII is spearheading a program to rid the city of CRTs in two years’ time, primarily through the internet cafés. Since there is an Internet Café Accreditation Board in the city, it would be just a matter of requiring net cafés to replace their monitors with LCDs before their licenses would be renewed. The chamber will also launch an info campaign urging users to replace their CRTs with LCDs, harping on the fact that the prices of LCDs are getting lower and lower. Couple that with the fact that users can ultimately recoup their expense with the savings in their power bills and you’ve got a winning combination. DCCCII will collect old CRT monitors and then fan them out to be reused, recycled, or (as a last resort) discarded in an environment-friendly way. As Andre said, it would be no use to make a show of collecting the monitors if they will simply get dumped in the landfill or thrown in the river. To be continued

Nawan

Currently, Ric told reporters in last Wednesday’s Club 888 Forum at The Marco Polo, Davao, art is relegated to post-war functions — art as therapy and other such activities. “We want to look at the preventive aspect of art in war, how to remove aggressions,” he said. In looking to its future (nawan), art needs to go back.

Indeed, the art sector is still trying to come up with a definition of war and peace. War, after all, is “not just with the rebels” but also includes peace and order and social ills like the drug problem. The artist must find his or her place in all this and become a positive force in achieving peace, especially in Mindanao.

“We want to instill a sense of pride in their place, to encourage all to look at their culture and respect the culture of others. We must know and appreciate everybody.” Ric said this is why museums and galleries, for example, are important: they show what the cultures of other people are and how they can live in harmony with each other. “Images can say more than what a politician can,” he said.

These are more are among the topics up for discussion in “NAWAN: Kalinaw sa Mindanao” which the NCCA is spearheading together with its conduit organization, the Filipino-Chinese Heritage and Cultural Society. The conference was originally plotted to be held in Zamboanga City, but some problems with the venue led to its being held here.

More than 150 participating artists from various disciplines, cultural workers, community leaders, and other advocates for a culture of peace in Mindanao representing the non-government organizations (NGOs), Indigenous Peoples’ Councils, and the private sector will gather here from November 20 to 22.

I asked Ric if the artist sector has a pattern elsewhere in the world it can follow, a successful model of artists helping achieve peace, but he said there is none yet so far. This is both a challenge and a great opportunity for Filipino artists to pave the way for the rest of the world. The Beatles tried to do it, but 40 years on war still reigns in many parts of the world. Perhaps Mindanao artists can succeed where others have failed.

Z Gorres is transported out of the ring on a stretcher.

Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto certainly deserves all the attention it is getting, but it must be pointed out that while the Pacman is celebrating his win, another Filipino boxer, Z Gorres, is in critical condition in hospital after winning his bout with Colombian Juan Melendez. He had been hit pretty hard at one point during the match but still went on to win the fight — only to collapse in the end due to a blood clot. He was immediately hospitalized and operated on but had to be placed on induced coma to stabilize his condition.

The two boxers represent two realities in the world of boxing: on the one hand stands Pacquiao, incredibly rich and famous after winning an unprecedented seven titles in seven weight divisions; on the other lies Gorres, injured and most certainly no longer able to pursue his dream of being a world champion. Boxing, for all its glitter, is essentially a violent sport that can and does injure and even kill its participants. Let’s not forget that the victorious Pacquiao currently sports a bandage over his right ear due to some  clotting that had been removed after the fight.

There are varying estimates, but most reports have it that about 1,000 boxers died in the ring in the 20th century. In the first five years of the 21st century another 43 victims have been recorded worldwide — mostly professional boxers but including up to ten amateurs. Thousands of others have suffered injuries, the most famous of whom is Muhammad Ali who has Parkinson’s Syndrome, a disease to which those subject to severe head trauma, such as boxers, are many times more susceptible.

While boxing is an extremely popular sport, there have been longstanding moves to ban it. The New York Times, in an article written on January 14, 1983, reported that the day’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association had urged the banning of boxing “in light of new evidence suggesting that chronic brain damage was prevalent among fighters.”

“In a study of 38 former boxers, who were examined by the X-ray process called computed axial tomography (CAT), more than half of the fighters showed signs of brain-tissue loss, or atrophy. This is the kind of cumulative damage that leads to the punch-drunk syndrome known as dementia pugilistica, which is characterized by memory loss, eye and ear problems, slurred speech, abnormal gait and tremors… The data indicated that the more often a person steps into the ring, the more likely he is to develop cerebral atrophy. But the data also suggested that boxers with a ‘moderate number of bouts’ may suffer such damage.”

Across the globe from the US, the British Medical Association (BMA) has also repeatedly called for a ban on boxing. In its May 3, 1998 issue, the BBC quoted BMA boxing spokesperson Dr. Bill O’Neill as saying the group is “very concerned about acute injuries.”

“We are also very concerned about the chronic brain damage that boxers are susceptible to from repeated injuries in the ring… It is the only sport where the intention is to inflict serious injury on your opponent, and we feel that we must have a total ban on boxing.”

Banning boxing, of course, will not go well with Pacquiao’s millions of fans. But perhaps those who have been following Gorres’ career would support it. Here’s to his full recovery, and may no one else suffer the same injuries he did.

But can you imagine what their acoustic guitars are going through?

One of the things I find amazing in the acoustic guitar is that a set of light strings actually applies about 180 pounds of pressure on the structure. That means I who weigh 160 pounds (give or take a few) can actually stand on the headstock of an unstrung guitar and the instrument would hold me up!

In fact, for a guitar to produce a sound it has to have that kind of pressure on it; if not for the pressure, a guitar would just be a hunk of wood, steel, and plastic.

And that’s kind of what life is all about, right? We all dream of living without pressure, without stress, without problems, but in reality these are the very things that allow us to be who we are. We are daily tested, and it is in how we respond to these tests that we see what stuff we’re made of. It is also in problems that we see how great God is. Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Acts 14:22).

So if you feel like you can’t stand the pressure, look at your guitar. It’s constantly under pressure – and if it’s an old one it may even show in how it looks – but because of that pressure it’s able to make beautiful music.

I was a teenager in the 1980s when the LRT was built, and for some years I was able to take it every now and then to go to places like Baclaran and Raon. Later on I used it regularly to go to the University Gospel Church (UGC) at the University Belt of which I had become a member. The fare was only a few pesos, and I took that for granted; it was only when I moved to Davao City in 1990 that I learned that government has been subsidizing each LRT passenger big time.

When the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) was built, cutting through EDSA from North Avenue to Taft Avenue, the government subsidy was pegged at P48 per commuter — four times the P12 each passenger actually has to pay. For the rider, it means a huge load off their wallets, but it also means that, since it is the government paying the lion’s share of the fare, all Filipinos are pitching in, even those who aren’t living in Manila and so are not able to enjoy the service.

Now P48 may not seem much, but when you consider that an average of 420,000 to 430,000 passengers take the LRT and MRT per day, that adds up to a huge amount — up to P20.64 million a day, or P619.2 million a month. And all of it benefits only a small percentage of the Philippine population, the same people who have good roads, nice bridges, big flyovers, and all the other perks of living in the National Capital Region.

Meanwhile, we in the regions are left with bad roads, bridges that take forever to repair when they collapse, and a smattering of flyovers. We get to pay for the NCR denizens’ perks, and precious little is left for our own infrastructure. Is it any wonder that some Mindanaoans want to secede?