“Mei’s
murder not only highlights the fact that leaving journalism is no guarantee of
safety from the perils of the profession — especially not from those with long
memories and deadly intent — it also underscores the depths to which the
culture of impunity has become entrenched in our country and society, courtesy
of a government that has shown only the most cursory regard for human rights.”
-excerpts
from the official statement of the
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP, condemning the murder
of Mei Magsino, April 14, 2015. (Note: I was the founding chairman of NUJP
Batangas Chapter).
Active or not, killing a
journalist like Mei Magsino, must be
a big mistake for the presumably angry politicians in Batangas. It has brought
the attention of the nation to the economically progressive, yet politically
repressed communities.
Batangas City has been under the
clutches of the Dimacuha dynasty for almost 30 years now, while the first class
town of Bauan, for over 20 years now under the Dolor dynasty.
Mei and I and have been friends since around 1995. But we became closer since 2010 because we shared so many common advocacies, against the tyranny of political dynasties. While we seldom met in person, we communicated regularly through social media and private messages (chat, emails, or SMS/texts). It is even unfortunate that while we were both overjoyed to meet again in person last March 25, 2015 at the birthday celebration of ex-Governor Dodo Mandanas at Monte Maria in Pagkilatan, Batangas City, I never thought it would be the last. We sat together with Benjie (her boyfriend) in the middle, in the entire duration of the mass, then again after lunch until we parted ways.
We were giggling, laughing and
exchanging jokes, and among those we laughed at were the death threats on her.
I even jokingly asked Benjie if he was not afraid to drive for Mei since his
car is not bulletproof, to which Mei interjected that she is not worried since
those who attempt to kill her, die! (I know she was referring as well to ex-Governor Armando Sanchez, who, as
publicly known, reportedly made attempts on Mei’s life in 2005 that she had to
go to Thailand to cool down).
Mei and I had a lot in common. We
are both separated from our legal spouses, formerly worked as journalists, and
both simply cannot close our eyes to the maladies of societies. We both
suffered in the hands of our media colleagues – she for some sort of
discrimination and indifference; and me for my past misfortune of being into a controversy
which many local media person sensationalized beyond imagination, except for
Manong Beting Mauhay, a radio commentator who was most fair to me.
In our last meeting, she turned
to me and said, “did you also think I was crazy and call me Sisa like those local media ‘friends’ of
ours?” I said, “do you think I would
do that to you?” She smiled and
said, “No!”
Well you can call Mei crazy for
being a “woman with balls” as she could really be very acerbic to her enemies.
But if you know her like I do, she is such a wonderful, jolly and witty person.
Her write-ups do not necessarily say much about the real person that she is.
Going back to our “status” as
ex-journalists turned bloggers and citizen journalists, Mei and I simply could
not content ourselves to watch how things unfold before our eyes. Utilizing the
social media, we keep our readers and publics informed, sometimes entertained
by our perspectives of current issues. We stand by our beliefs that by exposing
the evils in society, our people will be motivated to act and demand for
reforms, including kicking out from office overstaying dynasties who rule more
for personal rather than societal gains.
And the thankless (and
income-less) job earns the ire and wrath of our subject politicians. Death and
other threats are inevitable. But when we speak of them, we look like fools to
the eyes of many. Mei was even blocked
and banned from a facebook page of supposed allies (Reject RPT20 Movement) on suspicion that she was the real author
of an account that warned the leaders of that movement that they are target of
a liquidation operation courtesy of the relatives of the incumbent whom they
are opposing.
So personally, I would seldom
talk about death threats on me, and only very intimately. However I am
surprised that news came out that a friend of Mei’s revealed what we already
heard of – bounty on our heads by the powerful dynasty. (Should I be thankful
this came out o they better behave otherwise, they are easy suspect? But are
they stoppable?) - Ex-PDI reporter spokeof threat to her life 2 years ago, says friend
What distinguishes Mei and me is
on the approach. I must admit that I am not sure which is more effective. She
really makes hard-hitting, acerbic, almost foul language to make her point, and
make fun of her subject, calling them directly as “magnanakaw, sira ulo, walang
utak, pangit, etc. But she has had more
than a million views on one of her blogs, and I only have about 90 thousand.
But while I am more restrained,
they say that my write-ups cut like a sword, and make my subject really mad.
But depending on the issue, I must admit to have also used very strong words to
drive my point.
But there is a deep mutual
respect between me and Mei. We seem to agree on a lot of issues, trust each
other’s judgment and treatment of them, and share information a lot of times.
You know, we journalists (ex or
active) have no money or power. But we enjoy certain advantage of being part of
the fourth state. Not so sure where bloggers like me and Mei fit in, but since
we were ex-journo, we can claim to have some sort of link to that status. Touch
us, someone gets back to you by exposing you to the larger society. Kill us,
many will follow our footsteps, even take on our unfinished jobs.
They succeeded at killing my
friend Mei, but trust me, her soul will haunt her killers and their benefactors.
It will be a long shot, but there will be retribution. You will never stay
there on top, soon you will suffer ignominy
for the wrong you have done.#
