Press Freedom. The phrase still does not fail to raise many eyebrows especially those who come from the popular democracies of the world. Even the “freest press in Asia recently expressed its concern over the forces that impinge on that so-called freedom.

The Philippine Press has earned its reputation for being the freest in the region. The government generally respects press freedom through its laws as stipulated in the 1987 Constitution that re-installed democracy in the land. The supposed freedom gives journalists the right to inform the public, as what their job description really says.

However, violence against media practitioners still haunts press freedom. The biggest problems of journalists today are harassment, intimidation, and violence. As a result, the Philippines has been hailed as one of the most dangerous places for journalists.

Since the return of democracy through the peaceful EDSA revolution, a total of 50 journalists have been assassinated. Out of this number, only one as of this writing has been solved. Journalists fear that these violent incidents are some form of retaliation against the pursuit of their job.

On May 31, 2001, Mindoro Guardian reporter Joy Mortel was shot and killed by unidentified men. The police have quickly pointed fingers to the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels two months after the incident. They said the investigation shows that the weapon used to shoot Mortel was similar to weapons of the NPA.

After two years, unidentified men ambushed a hard-hitting commentator of dwTI radio station in Lucena City. Apolinario “Polly” Pobeda was killed on his way to the station on May 17, 2003. The investigations later linked the killing to Lucena City Mayor Ramon Talaga Jr.’s bodyguards. Pobeda criticized the mayor on the air before the incident.

In Laguna, Noel Villarante was shot and killed in Santa Cruz town on August 19, 2003. He reported the rampant illegal gambling in the province and suspected drug traffickers, some of which are politicians.

A female newsreader of GMA TV Legazpi City was killed in 1997. The case remains unsolved. At 6:00 AM, unidentified men attacked Militante on August 20, 1997 while she was on her way to work from her boarding house.

The cohorts struck a piece of bamboo on the different parts of her body, knocking her unconscious. One of them dragged her to the toilet but immediately fled after realizinf he was being watched by a witness from the second floor.

Militante died the same day at the Mother Seaton Hospital in Naga City. Just recently, another hard-hitting broadcaster was shot dead in Masbate. Nelson Nadura, a NPA rebel-returnee was riding on his motorcycle when he was gunned down approximately 150 meters awayf rom dyME radio station where he works at.

Nadura, president of the Union of Print and Broadcast Journalists in Masbate (UPBJM) was listed as the 50th media practitioner killed since 1986 according to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP). Nadura hosted a show called “Opinyon Publiko” (Public Opinion), where he regularly criticized the local government units like the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the worsening traffic condition in their area.

The killings are called as an attempt to stifle press freedom. Since the killings have become rampant and government seems inept in their search for the perpetrators, some journalists struggle to protect themselves, even this means the suppression of their stories in print, TV or radio.

On March 13, Philippine Daily Inquirer Central Luzon correspondent Tonette Oreja received what was to become the first of the series of death threats for breakfast. She received the threats both over the telephone and through text messages. Since then she has been put under police protection.

The threats started pouring in when she started doing a story about the filing of secual abuse charges against Augusto Sanchez, the chief of staff for the Pampanga province Vice-Governor Miguel Arroyo Jr., son of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Oreja said she received the threats before the story has gone in print. She was even offered bribes if she would kill the story. She then asked her editor to pull the story, saying she is “not willing to stake her life on that particular story which, at that time, does not involve national interest.” The “freest press” label of the Philippines has long been removed by such killings. These are the ones reported, who know how much more journalists have been killed out there. Many have disappeared without a trace. Many, out of fear, just retired from their perilous environment and pursued other “safer” endeavors.

Of course, this is just the local picture. Around the world, journalists fight for the freedom of the institution of truth telling. Many have suffered; one of the unforgettable ones is Veronica Guerin of Ireland. What one may admire from such journalists as Guerin is that they stood up to their principles and carried out their jobs even if it took their life away from them.

All over the world, journalists carry out one big fight: that the Journalist will not be intimidated.