The Philippines on Tuesday blasted a New York-based media watchdog after it claimed the country was among the deadliest peace time nations for the working press.
While acknowledging that there have been over two dozen killings of journalists in the past decade, President Gloria Arroyo’s chief aide, Eduardo Ermita said the cases “have all been properly attended to.”
“We view with discomfort the manner the Philippines is once again put in a bad light on its commitment on the promotion and protection of human rights,” Ermita said in a statement.
He was reacting to a report released in Manila by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Monday that placed the Philippines sixth in a list of countries where members of the press are killed with impunity.
The report said there were over two dozen killings that have gone unsolved in the past decade, with witnesses being threatened or attacked.
The report placed Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia at the top of the list for the second year running, while Asian countries wracked by strife like Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan were also cited.
The CPJ said the Philippines was “first and foremost the country of concern” where the killings happened at a time of peace and where there is a working democracy.
The group also called on the government to assign special prosecutors, move trials to safe places and put in place measures to protect families and witnesses.
Ermita said the CPJ report was an “unfair depiction of what is happening” on the ground.
He said that based on government statistics, 31 press workers have been killed since 2001. Two of the 26 cases filed had been solved and four people had been convicted, he added.–AFP
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
