Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is better than Ferdinand Marcos.

 

A better what? Well, see for yourself and decide.

 

As of 31 May 2006, here is their score: Marcos – 34 journalists killed.

Arroyo - 42.

 

Since the People Power Revolution restored democracy in 1986, 79 journalists have been killed. Of these, 42 have been killed since 2001, the year Arroyo assumed power. Compare this to the 34 journalists killed under the Marcos dictatorship and one cannot be blamed for thinking that democracy is very deadly, indeed.

 

Even more shocking is the fact that Marcos was in power for twenty years while Arroyo has been President for a mere five years. You could say that she has erased whatever head start Marcos may have had in their journalist “body count” contest, if I may use such a term.

 

Sure, people die everyday. In the Philippines especially, people get gunned down every single day for the slightest of reasons. What makes these press killings special?

 

Well, for one, of the 79 cases, only one has been solved by the police. Another thing that is particularly galling is that the government considers a case “solved” when a suspect has been identified. By this perverted definition, the government claims to have solved around half of the murders.

 

In truth, only one case has been solved.

 

Perhaps it is expecting too much from the Philippine Police. After all, most of the suspects in the slayings are either their fellow policemen or their political masters.

 

In a sign that he is giving up and abandoning his duty, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales recommended that the journalists arm themselves to deter further murders. If this is not idiotic, I do not know what is. Common sense tells us that one would not have the chance to fire back in an ambush, which was how the journalists were killed.

 

Again, this may be expecting too much from the Philippine National Police and the Justice Secretary.

 

To demonstrate how deadly democratic Philippines has become, consider this: According to the Reporters Without Borders Annual Report, Iraq, a country torn by war and strife, is the deadliest country for journalists in 2005 with 24 journalists killed. The Philippines, ostensibly a free and democratic nation, is second with seven murders.

 

Just seven, you say? Well, that number is bigger than the number of journalists killed in Afghanistan (2) and Colombia (1), strife-torn countries both.

 

There can be no press freedom if journalists exist in conditions of corruption, poverty or fear. So says the International Federation of Journalists.

 

Clearly, press freedom in the Philippines – that self-proclaimed bastion of democracy and freedom in Asia – is under grave threat. And if that threat were to engulf the press in flames, history tells us that democracy will soon follow.