MANILA, 8 August 2004 — A group of journalists and anti-gun advocates yesterday denounced a suggestion by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to allow journalists to carry guns amid a string of killings of media persons in the country.
“It is the height of irresponsibility for the Philippine National Police to think arming journalists is the solution to the continuous media killings,” the National Union of Journalists in the Philipines (NUJP) said in a press statement.
“This lame, knee-jerk response is a virtual admission by law-enforcement authorities of how inutile they are against those that seek to silence the press in this country,” the statement said.
Nandy Pacheco of the Gunless Society movement earlier slammed the proposal as a “shallow idea.”
PNP Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., whose office issues licenses to carry guns outside the home, had broached the idea anew of arming journalists who were facing threats to their lives in the wake of the recent killing of two radio broadcasters.
The deaths last week of Arnel Manalo, correspondent of the tabloid Bulgar and DZRH radio station in Batangas province, and Roger Mariano, anchor of DZJC in Laoag City, had highlighted once again the growing need of journalists for protection.
On Thursday, police said unknown gunmen also opened fire on three journalists in Cebu City in the latest attack on the media in the country.
The journalists from Bantay Radyo repelled the attack by returning, a police report said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
Inday Espina-Varona, chair of NUJP, said the PNP’s “response to failure” is alarming because it would only turn the Philippines into a “society of gunslingers.”
She said journalists are not demanding special privileges from the government.
She said the demand is for law enforcers and other government officials do their job by bringing murderers of journalists to justice.
“Allowing journalists to arm themselves is passing the buck. It absolves law enforcers of their failure to protect citizens and to go after criminals. It also assigns blame to journalists: because we’re not armed, we’re vulnerable — this is what the PNP seems to be saying,” she said.
“Arming journalists not only worsens the problem — it prevents the media, the authorities and the public from finding the right measures to solve the continued killings of journalists.
“Among these measures is the arrest, prosecution and conviction of killers of journalist,” she added.
Varona noted that not one of the 54 cases since 1986 has been resolved, while suspects who have been identified by witnesses — as in the case of Pagadian journalist Edgar Damalerio, who, according to these eyewitnesses, was murdered by a policeman in 2002 — are allowed to escape from police custody.
Holistic Approach
Senior Superintendent Arturo Cacdac, director of the police Firearms and Explosives Division which issues gun licenses, maintained that gun ownership helped deter crime.
“If people thought you were ready to defend yourself, probably it would deter (them from attacking you). That’s my personal opinion,” he said in an interview.
But Pacheco of Gunless Society said the PNP should draw up “innovative” security measures based on principles of peace and active non-violence for those facing gun threats.
“It’s about time we came up with a holistic approach that fosters respect for life,” he said.
To curb gun-related crimes, Pacheco proposed that Congress restore the former stiffer penalty for people arrested for illegal possession of firearms.
“The current law is no longer a deterrent. The president should ask Congress to restore the original penalty,” he said.
In June 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos signed into law Republic Act No. 8294 reducing the maximum prison term for illegal possession of firearms from 21 years to 8 years.
The measure, authored by then Sen.Ramon Revilla, was believed to have been tailor-made for actor Robin Padilla who had been sentenced to from 10 to 18 years in prison for carrying firearms without a license. (Additional input from INS, AFP)
