Killing the messengers

The murder of investigative journalist Melinda Magsino in Batangas by two motorcycle-riding killers bloodily highlights yet again one great shame of the nation: the decimation of newspeople that is the third-worst in the world, 77 counted by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) since 1992. That’s behind only war zones Iraq and Syria.

Other governments stifle press and truth with draconian laws, armed repression, and lately Internet firewalls. But the Philippines, while taking pride in free media, has constantly failed to bring assailants and masterminds of journalist assassinations to justice. In certain ways, that is even worse than media controls.