In a display of solidarity, students here related to the journey of slain broadcast journalist Ka Percy Lapid Mabasa and expressed concern about their own safety.
At the kickoff forum to commemorate the first death anniversary of Ka Percy Lapid last weekend, campus journalists from the Silliman University and Negros Oriental State University asked a panel of veteran journalists for advice on media killings, red-tagging, and other forms of harassment.
At the question-and-answer portion of the forum “Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive: The Case Study of Percy Lapid,” staffers of The Weekly Sillimanian and The Norsunian told of their own difficulties in covering the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and five others March this year.
Roy Mabasa, Ka Percy’s brother and a journalist who covers the diplomatic beat, said truth is the journalist’s main defense. “Isulat mo lang ang katotohanan. Just write the truth,” he said.
Ellen Tordesillas, co-founder of Facebook-accredited fact-checker Vera Files and keynote speaker at the forum, said truthfulness is the key metric for journalists who are also guiding the public in making small decisions to impactful political choices.
“Mula sa kung saan masarap kumain hanggat sa kung sino ang iboboto, important ang truthfulness,” she said. “Ang journalists, dapat maging responsible. Pati campus journalists.”
Tordesillas said truthfulness is dangerous to people who want to destroy democracy.
Ka Percy Lapid, a hard-hitting broadcaster who was gunned down October last year, often reminded his listeners that “Ang pagsasabi ng katotohanan ay isang tungkulin (Telling the truth is a duty).”
Alwyn Alburo, forum moderator and project director of the project “Keeping the Flame of Freedom Alive: The Case of Percy Lapid,” noted the prevailing culture of impunity in our country.
He shared his personal experience of losing journalist-friends to motorcycle-riding-in-tandem assailants, similar to Ka Percy’s case.
Alburo, who is a producer at GMA7 and a professor at the University of Sto. Tomas, emphasized the significance of press freedom and democracy.
“We can’t back down on our role just because it is dangerous,” he said. “We should continue nurturing our hard-earned freedom.”
Alex Ray Pal, publisher of the local publication Metro Post and correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer here, advised the campus journalists “to know the definition of libel by heart so that you can be protected when you write your story.”
Several students also asked the panel of journalists about experiencing fear in covering controversial issues.
Tordesillas, who has received death threats for her criticism of the Duterte administration, said she focuses on making sure that her stories are truthful and thoroughly fact-checked.
Pal recounted a personal dilemma involving a friend who was the subject of his story. He told the campus journalists to concentrate on the facts and in effectively conveying the core of the story.
“If I tone this down, I would be violating the trust of the person giving me the information. Write it anyway, write the essential facts, say what the story is about. Get his side also [even if] that is a very uneasy feeling,” Pal said.
Another student asked about bloggers who consider themselves journalists.
Tordesillas said bloggers are not journalists but propagandists who try to make a person (usually a politician) look good in the eyes of the public.
“Naunahan lang nila tayo sa social media. Huwag nating hayaan sila ang mag-dominate,” she said, urging students to support credible blogging journalists like Christian Esguerra.
Mabasa said Ka Percy Lapid produced his own radio show and extended his reach to Facebook and Youtube to connect with his supporters all over the world.
Tordesillas urged the students to be proactive truth-seekers in their personal and civic lives. “By valuing truthfulness, individuals can contribute to a society where honest communication and well-informed decisions prevail,” she said.
Mabasa asked the students to wield the power of media and digital technology against threats to press freedom and freedom of expression.
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The forum was made possible with the support of the Czech Embassy Manila
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