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Earl G. Parreno

“Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Ethical journalism means dedication to accuracy: fact-checking and credible sources.” – US Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg

“Quality journalism enables citizens to make informed decisions about their society’s development. It also works to expose injustice, corruption and the abuse of power.” – Terence Jones, United Nations Resident Coordinator

WHILE statistics show a significant decline in the number of extra-judicial killings (EJK) in the Philippines, “there is still a tragic number of deaths” recorded the past recent years, United States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg yesterday told a forum marking World Press Freedom Day.

UNITED STATES Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg speaks to journalists, bloggers, students and press freedom advocates during a forum to mark World Press Freedom Day in Manila, Philippines on 29 April 2015 |Photo by Cong B. Corrales

The number of EJKs, he said, including those against journalists, have declined from a high of over 200 per year in the late 2000 to around 50 to a hundred per year in recent years.

“We’ve seen some positive development with regards to press freedom in the Philippines over the last few years. But it’s not there yet,” he said, stressing that “We all have to work so that number becomes zero.”

Speaking in the same forum, Terence Jones, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, pointed out that, “At least one journalist is killed each week in conflict and non-conflict areas (around the world).”

The UN official said, “For peace to be lasting and development sustainable, human rights must be respected. Everyone must be free to seek and impart knowledge and information through media online and offline.”

According to Jones, “Quality journalism enables citizens to make informed decisions about their society’s development. It also works to expose injustice, corruption and the abuse of power.”

“At least one journalist is killed each week in conflict and non-conflict areas (around the world),” says Terence Jones, United Nations Resident Coordinator to the Philippines during a forum to mark World Press Freedom day held 29 April 2015 in Manila | Photo by Cong B. Corrales

The UN, he said, has a Plan of Action with the goal of making journalists safe and putting an end to impunity.

The Philippines is ranked as one the most dangerous places in the world for media personnel.

The UN has declared May 3^rd of every year as World Press Freedom Day. The forum, held at the Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, was attended by media practitioners, internet bloggers, journalism students, and human rights advocates. It was organized by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) with the support of the US Embassy in Manila and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

View clip of Ambassador Goldeberg’s keynote address below. Video by Cong B. Corrales

Ambassador Goldberg, for his part, emphasized the role of “real” journalists in society, pointing out that it is a unique and venerable vocation that requires many different attributes namely, ethics, dedication and bravery.

“They give voice to those without political or economic power. Journalists do this because they have heart, they have heart to expose the truth,” he stressed.

However, he said, “anyone who knows how to write these days could call themselves a journalist.”

“In so many ways you could get your message to the public, through the internet, through blogs. In fact it seems anyone who knows how to tweet these days can say they are journalists,” Goldberg said.

But being a real journalist involves something more, he again emphasized. “It involves real truth-seeking, truth-telling. It’s not fabricating stories to make money or exaggerating the headlines to sell the paper,” the Ambassador said. “Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist’s credibility. Ethical journalism means dedication to accuracy: fact-checking and credible sources. It means educating oneself on a variety of topics to ensure stories are well-informed.”

Too, Goldberg reiterated that press freedom means “freedom from fear, freedom from intimidation, freedom from violence for the journalist, and for the citizen.”

“It’s the right to tell your story, share your opinion and have your voice heard. (But) it’s a two-way street,” he said, and “that puts a tremendous burden (on journalists) in telling that story in a responsible and fair way.”

Earl G. Parreno

THEY are some of the most destructive land reclamation projects in the country. But unlike other planned developments that have become controversial because of their adverse impact on the environment, these are all taking place almost under the radar. China’s land reclamation projects on reefs, islets and rocks in the Spratly Islands—and their impact not just on the country’s national, but more significantly, food security—are hardly catching the public’s attention.

Sunset on the South China Sea off M?i Né village on the south-east coast of Vietnam | Photo from en.wikipedia.org

Yet, China’s aggressive action in the disputed areas in the South China Sea may lead to a catastrophic collapse of marine biodiversity and fishery in this part of the globe.

“This issue goes beyond territorial dispute,” says Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner of Greenpeace. “Reclamation projects in biodiversity impact areas are irresponsible.”

Cinches says that China’s reclamation in the South China Sea, now estimated to have reached 311 hectares, are destroying some US$100 million a year of what is called the Coral Reef Ecosystem Services, quoting a study conducted by Emeritus Prof. Edgardo D. Gomez of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute.

Ecosystem services are direct and indirect contribution of the ecosystem to the survival and quality of human life. They include food and other raw materials the ecosystem provides, as well as its role in regulating climate and moderating ecological disturbances.

Concretely, the reclamation of 311 hectares would translate into a 20 percent reduction of fish catch in the area. It could affect more than 12,000 fishers in four provinces of the country namely, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan and Palawan. In 2014, some 21,186.8 metric tons of fish were harvested in the South China Sea, according to estimates by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). This could go down to just 17,000 metric tons this year, based on Greenpeace’s figures.

But China, which is claiming 85.7 percent of the 3.5 million-hectare South China Sea as its own, is planning to build bigger islands from the reefs and underwater rocks. This would mean greater destruction to the reef ecosystem in the area. For instance, in Mischief Reef (also called Panganiban Reef), just 112 nautical miles from Palawan and well within the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, China has built an artificial islet that now measures around 3.2 hectares. Based on satellite photos, this reclamation project, which started only in January this year, can reach at least 500 hectares when done. China has reclamation activities on seven reefs in the Spratly’s at present.

View the lecture of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio on the South China Sea issue below.

“Reefs are the breeding ground of fish,” says Cinches, “but the Spratly Islands is also important in larval dispersal.” He explains that when the eggs spawned by the fish on the reefs in the Spratly’s are hatched these are carried by the ocean currents to as far as Indonesia where they grow and mature.

“Destroying the reef ecosystem in the Spratly Islands affects the fish supply not just in our country but in the neighboring countries as well,” Cinches points out.

China contends that the reclamations are intended to “improve the living and working conditions of those stationed on the islands.” When it occupied Mischief Reef in 1995, it rationalized its action by saying that the reef will provide “shelter” to its fishermen. Several years on, however, Chinese troops stationed in the reef are shooing away Filipino fishers trying to make a living from the bountiful marine resources in the area. In fact, China has appropriated for itself the fishery resources in the whole South China Sea, with its heavily armed coast guard fleets patrolling the area.

Indeed, China’s aggressive action in the South China Sea is not only gobbling up Philippine territory. It is also eating up the country’s fish supply. A grave matter that the public should know, and act on.

Category: Earl Parreno

Real journalism in a dangerous world

Beyond the territorial dispute in the South China Sea