Joint Statement of the November 23 Movement
Dear Colleagues,
Last November 28, several media organizations and newspaper publishers and editors met to discuss the horrific massacre of journalists, lawyers, and several others in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao and to map out plans for a concerted effort to push for justice for all victims of the carnage.
Among those who attended were officers of the Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Philippine Press Institute (PPI), Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project/Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and People’s Journal.
The groups collectively called themselves the November 23 Movement, with the hope that more media organizations and individuals would join the initiative.
One of the immediate actions agreed upon was to issue a joint statement calling on the government to swiftly bring the perpetrators of this most terrible crime to the bar of justice to our full satisfaction. Those who attended the meeting have adopted the joint statement.
We appeal to you to print or air this joint statement on December 1 to express our collective outrage and grief against this abomination inflicted not only on the media but on human dignity and decency as well.
We also call on everyone to join or express solidarity in other actions that will follow the issuance of this statement.
For more information, please contact the secretariat: Rorie Fajardo of PHRRP (0905) 3154986 and roriegirl@yahoo.com; Sonny Fernandez (0908) 3259620 and freetosay@gmail.com; Trina Federis of CEGP, (0910) 4803098 and cegphils@gmail.com; and Sweet Cawicaan of CCJD 376-5550.
Thank you.
1. Business World – Vergel Santos
2. College Editors Guild (CEGP) – Trina Federis
3. Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) – Luis Teodoro
4. Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD) – Adelina S. Alvarez, Red Batario
5. Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) — Gabby Tabunar*
6. Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) – Jose L. Pavia
7. Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) – Rey Hulog/Herman Basbano*
8. National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) – Nestor Burgos, Inday Espina, Sonny Fernandez, Marlon Ramos, May Rodriguez
9. People’s Journal – Badette Tamayo
10. Philippine Daily Inquirer – Isagani Yambot
11. Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project — Rorie Fajardo
12. Philippine Press Institute (PPI) – Jose L. Pavia
——–
A Challenge of Conscience
The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder on Monday in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao province, raises the ultimate challenge of conscience. It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanization.
The crime thus calls for swift justice, which can only be achieved through a credible and independent process, which in turn can only be achieved without the hand of this government – a “government generally mistrusted because it is friendly to the members of the clan accused in the massacre”.
We, ourselves colleagues of the more than a score journalists who were killed, demand the following:
One, the creation of a commission outside the government to investigate the crime;
Two, the arrest and prosecution of all the people involved in it in any way, as murderers themselves or their protectors;
Three, the formation of a special court to try the case;
Four, fully guaranteed protection for the witnesses;
Five, the disarming and dismantling of all private armies, such as those evidently employed in the massacre.
Six, the enlistment of persons of unquestioned probity in the whole process;
And finally, the resignation of the government if it fails to deliver such basic satisfaction – indeed, the very same government that has encouraged, by partisanship and conspiracy, the culture of impunity of which the massacre has been the most abominable manifestation.
Signed:
Business World
Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD)
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)
Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ)
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)
Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI)
Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project (PHRRP)
Philippine Press Institute (PPI)
Ellen Tordisillas
Rommel Rebollido
Edwin Espejo
Froilan Gallardo
