Life is Cheap in Filipino Journalism

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration has been criticized at home and abroad for a rising number of unsolved killings of left-wing activists, government critics and journalists.

According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, 52 reporters have been killed since 2001.

In the same period, the human rights group Karapatan has reported more than 800 activists killed and another 200 abducted by suspected security forces. Most of the victims are from left-wing groups branded by the military as fronts for a 39-year communist insurgency.

[The Guardian]