MEDIA KILLINGS
‘There must be a way out of this bloody mess ‘- PAPI
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

WARPATH. PAPI's president Juan 'Johnny' Dayang addressing some 100 mediamen in the midyear executive session of publishers and editors held at Makati Sports Club (BRZabal)

KALIBO, Aklan - Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc (PAPI) president Juan P. Dayang on Sunday urged the journalists to face the raging atrocities against media - boldly and squarely.
"PAPI has remained steadfast in upholding the sanctity of the freedom of the press, however, in doing so, we are aghast at the seemingly unabated rise in media killings and the ones bearing the brunt are those courageous PAPI members in the provinces, worse, many perpetrators have gone scot free," Dayang said.
Some 100 mediamen - publishers, editors, broadcasters, commentators, columnists, reporters, writers and other communicators attended the mid-year session at the Makati Sports Club in Makati City with the theme, "The Emerging Challenges Confronting the Philippine Press in a Global Environment."
PAPI could not stand in conscience without condemning these despicable assault and the journalists must move on and set a new pace of growth and opportunities to forge PAPI ahead, Dayang added.
"Somewhere and somehow, something is wrong. Do we blame ourselves, do we need to go into soul-searching and find out what ails our practice of press freedom? Have we committed excesses beyond the norms of decency and respect for others," he said.
The Philippines is the fourth bloodiest country for journalists in the last 10 years. At least 55 journalists were killed between 1996 and 2006, behind Iraq (138), Russia (88), and Colombia (72), according to the International News Agency Institute.
Last week, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created a “special prosecution team’ and designated Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco to handles cases of media killings in the country.
She also called for the cooperation between media groups, the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of Justice to stop the murders of journalists.
At least 51 journalists have been killed since 2001 under the administration of Mrs. Arroyo, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said.
"Words alone are not enough to deter these atrocities; neither shall we take government assurances of protection hook, line and sinker. There must be a way out of this bloody mess. It is a challenge we will never run away from it,” Dayang said.