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As this
was being written, the noon deadline for the payment of
ransom by the kidnappers of Ces Drilon and Jimmy
Encarnacion lapsed. Word on the fate of the ABS-CBN TV
reporter and her cameraman has yet to filter out of the
bandits’ lair in Sulu. Like the rest of the media
community, the owners and staff of this paper offer
their prayers for the safe release of Drilon and
Encarnacion—just like the third member of the team,
assistant cameraman Angelo Valderama, who was freed
earlier.
Drilon,
Encarnacion and Valderama join the growing list of media
workers who, in their quest for information of public
interest, have suffered the consequences of putting
their personal safety on the line—not just in the
Philippines, but also in many other parts of the world.
By some
uncanny timing, the kidnapping of the ABS-CBN news team
by suspected terrorists coincided with the unveiling of
a memorial in London in honor of journalists and other
news personnel who became casualties in the practice of
their trade. The memorial—a 10-meter glass-and-steel
cone—stands atop the British Broadcasting Corp.’s (BBC)
Broadcasting House.
Over the
past 10 years, an estimated two war reporters per week
have died, with many more killed covering corruption.
Countless others have survived such attacks, but
continue to bear the physical and/or psychological scars
of their nearly fatal encounters with forces that tried
to stop them from bringing out the news.
In his
speech at the unveiling of the BBC memorial, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said it stood “in tribute
to all those who have sacrificed their lives so that the
rest of us could be informed.”
In
evident reference to the kidnapped ABS-CBN team and
others like them that are now similarly situated, Ban
added: “But it is also for those who survive, those who
are out there right now—risking their lives to report
what they uncover in the face of deadly threats.”
In a
report posted on the BBC News web site, Rodney Pinder,
director of the International News Safety Institute,
which works for more safety for journalists, was quoted
saying: “These men and women are the unsung heroes of
democracy, for without a free press there can be no
freedom. This shaft of light in the capital of
international journalism is a visual reminder of their
sacrifice.”
BBC
chairman Sir Michael Lyons drew attention to the risks
taken by many journalists in the course of their work.
He said: “The implicit contract, whereby journalists
place their lives at risk to help us understand the
world and its events better, needs to be reaffirmed. At
moments like this, that sacrifice is properly valued and
the loss is widely shared.”
But
while the casualties in the name of press freedom were
being honored in the British capital, some of the ABS-CBN
team’s local colleagues were trying to exploit the
misfortune to get back at those who allegedly sent
Drilon, Encarnacion and Valderama in harm’s way. An
anonymous blog—probably authored by a disgruntled
network employee—dumps the blame for the kidnapping on
the laps of the victims’ corporate bosses who allegedly
ordered the three victims to enter Abu Sayyaf territory.
The
mean-spirited blogger even went on to say that the
expenses ABS-CBN has so far incurred in trying to
resolve the hostage-taking in Sulu—notwithstanding the
network’s oft-repeated “no- ransom” policy—would have
been better spent on pay raises for the network’s
employees.
Meanwhile, a columnist who specializes in business
gossip poked fun at a physical blemish of one of the
kidnap victims—as if such a gratuitous “insight” would
help anyone better understand the issue at hand or ease
the anguish of the victims’ terrified kin.
This is
certainly not the time for finger-pointing and
distasteful speculation. We can only hope and pray that
Drilon and Encarnacion come out of this ordeal in good
shape, just like Valderama.
But when
the remaining victims’ safety has been assured, their
captors should be made to suffer the consequences of
their crime, not just against the ABS-CBN news team, but
also against press freedom and the democracy that the
free media serve to guarantee. |
