NUJP: Drilon abduction ‘reminder of risks’ journalists face
‘Highlights media owners’ role in safety of worker
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:46:00 06/18/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Even as it greeted with “great relief” the safe release of a kidnapped ABS-CBN news team and their guide, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Wednesday said the incident was a “sober reminder of the risks” media workers face in the course of their work.
They also said it put the spotlight on the role of media owners in ensuring the safety of employees sent on dangerous assignment.
NUJP chairman Jose Torres Jr. and secretary general Rowena Paraan, in a statement, thanked all those who helped secure the safe return of journalists Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, Angelo Valderama, and university professor Octavio Dinampo, particularly Indanan Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, Sulu Vice Governor Lady Ann Sahidullah and Senator Loren Legarda, the military and police.
The NUJP officials also thanked their media colleagues who offered prayers of hope and the media outlets that kept close tabs on the unfolding crisis.
"Even as we welcome back our colleagues, we also urge everyone in our profession to reflect on this incident as a sober reminder of the risks we constantly face as we go about our work," Torres and Paraan said.
If anything, they said, the kidnapping "highlights a continuing problem within the industry that adds to the external dangers and threats to press freedom, and that is the responsibility of media owners and outfits to ensure the safety and welfare of those they send into the field, even into the line of fire, to deliver the news to our audience."
"We urge everyone in the industry, from correspondents to media owners, to soberly reflect on this problem and come together to address this issue. We owe it to ourselves, to our families and to our audience," the NUJP officers said.
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