Self-fulfilling prophecy

(A pooled editorial on the 2nd anniversary of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre)

REFERRING to extra judicial killings and the killing of journalists in the Philippines in his July 2010 State of the Nation Address, President Benigno Aquino III declared that his administration would “hold murderers accountable”.

Despite that pledge, six journalists have been killed since then, or a total of ten since the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23, 2009 claimed the lives of 58 men and women, of whom 32 were journalists and media workers. In addition, a number of community journalists have also been threatened, sued for libel on the flimsiest grounds, barred from attending interviews and press conferences, and physically assaulted.

And yet, except for increasing the budget of the Witness Protection Program, the Aquino administration has taken almost none of the steps agreed upon in the August, 2010 meeting between media advocacy and journalists’ organizations and the Palace’s designated representatives, as necessary to stop the killings. Only by demonstrating that the killers and would- be killers of journalists can no longer get away with murder can the killings stop, and begin the process of dismantling the culture of impunity.

November 23, 2009 was declared the International Day to End Impunity by international press groups to emphasize the global significance of the Ampatuan Massacre. And yet, Mr. Aquino seems to be as unconcerned over the killing of journalists in the Philippines as his predecessor Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Speaking at a round table discussion on the Ampatuan Massacre and the Culture of Impunity last November 14, a Presidential Communication Operations Office official declared that “we (the government) can’t really put an end to impunity.” Is it perhaps that self-fulfilling prophecy, the declaration of the administration’s surrender, that’s driving President Aquino government’s inability and unwillingness to take the steps necessary to dismantle the culture of impunity?

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Gruesome reminder

SHE was our president for nine years.  As such, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the nation’s No. 1 person from 2001 to 2010.  In fact, she was even dubbed the “Iron Lady” of Asia at the height of her reign. But look at her now.  She’s facing criminal charges left and right.  She’s been barred from traveling even if the reason for her trip is to seek medical treatment.  She’s in hospital arrest and, if the court so decides, she might soon be thrown behind bars – like a common criminal. Such is the fate that had befallen her.

To be sure, she’s innocent of the plunder, electoral sabotage and suspect-coddling in the Maguindanao Massacre of 2009 charges until proven guilty.  But still, it’s really pathetic to see her the way she is now at St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Let her case be a gruesome reminder once more:  Nothing lasts forever.  Not even all the powers in the world.

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