‘Not on our watch’: Journalists who survived Martial Law vow to continue fight for democracy

The fight is not yet over. 

Ahead of the 48th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, journalists renewed calls to safeguard democracy – this time, under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. 

In a statement, members of the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) from 1969 to 1972 slammed the attacks against the media and denounced what they described as de facto martial rule.

“We know that, once again, we need to safeguard our right to speak in every medium and platform. We know that we need to protect press freedom from every assault,” the CEGP veteran members said.

These journalists survived the storm of attacks against the media when then-President Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law on September 21, 1972.

During Martial Law, press freedom was severely restricted. Aware of the power of the media, Marcos seized control of the media. 

The CEGP veteran members vowed to speak up and not be intimidated by attacks aimed not only against journalists but all Filipinos. 

“We made the willful choice in 1972 to keep writing. We stood witness to a country being run aground by a Strongman. We worked to get the information out there to a people whose constitutional guarantees had been wiped out by a Strongman’s absolute greed and absolute power,” they said.

The group admitted that they had to pay the price for staying true to their call as they were arrested, imprisoned, or tortured during martial rule in the country. (READ: Worse than death: Torture methods during martial law) 

They said they recorded their experiences in the book, Not On Our Watch: Martial Law Really Happened. We Were There.

“We will not have de facto martial law. Not on our watch,” they added.

Signs

As living witnesses and survivors of the Marcos dictatorship, the veteran journalists cited incidents under the Duterte administration that mirrored what happened during Martial Law.

They cited Duterte’s attacks on media organizations such as the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the numerous cases filed against Rappler, the shutdown of broadcast giant ABS-CBN, and the police’s red-tagging of the media. 

They said another threat to press freedom is the anti-terror law which Duterte signed despite widespread public opposition.

“The anti-terrorism law is de facto martial law – and this early it telegraphs abuse. So, we hold the line. We stay on watch,” the group said. 

Since the law was signed, various groups and individuals have filed petitions against the law, including retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio. (READ: [ANALYSIS] The Anti-Terror Act is worse than Martial Law)

The veteran journalists said that under the anti-terror law, “individuals questioning the government’s use of the COVID-19 budget, for instance, or groups protesting their hunger and lack of jobs under the worst recession in the country in 30 years – all can be arrested as terrorists just for making noise.”

They said that journalists are vulnerable to abuse under the anti-terror law. “In other words, it does not matter what you wrote or what you intended, the Council need only decide that you are guilty of inveigling someone, and it can have you arrested…. Without question, all this has a chilling effect.”

The previous law, the Human Security Act of 2007, had safeguards in place to prevent abuses but with the new anti-terror law “the government has given itself all the power but, frighteningly, none of the accountability,” the group said. – Rappler.com