The Bacolod City chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Negros Press Club, along with local media organizations and various groups, held a rally yesterday at the Bacolod Public Plaza to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre, where over 32 journalists were killed.

Press Club President Renato ‘Aksyon Boy’ Duran said the media profession is “somewhat” under threat, saying it is “high time for journalists to unite and call for an end to impunity against media practitioners.”

Meanwhile, local NUJP head Marchel Espina expressed her dismay over the slow progress of the trial against the perpetrators.

“It has been eight years since the worst election-related violence in recent Philippine history, and the worst attack on journalists the world has known, but the pursuit for justice for the victims of the massacre continues,” she said.

Espina noted, currently, threats and attacks on journalists are seeing a resurgence, particularly those critical of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“At this time and age, especially in the era of ‘fake news,’ we need [an] independent press who will serve as watchdogs,” she explained.

Espina hopes, by next year, there will be some movement in the case.

During the event, members of the Mass Communication Societies of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) and the University of Saint La Salle (USLS) also held a program to commemorate the massacre.

On November 23, 2009, 58 people, 32 of which were journalists, were on their way to Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao but were blocked by an estimated 100 private militiamen from the Ampatuan family, a political clan in Maguindanao.

The 58 people were brought to a remote area, where they were killed by the armed men, with some reportedly being beheaded. Five women were also raped before being killed.

The incident is considered the single deadliest event for journalists in history.

Leaders of the Ampatuan clan, most notably Andal Ampatuan, Jr. and Andal Ampatuan, Sr., were later arrested, although, 100 of the 197 alleged perpetrators have yet to be arrested.

The elder Ampatuan later died from liver cancer while still in custody./DGB, WDJ