Philippines journalists believe attacks on media to continue

General Santos, Philippines: Several white wooden coffins all but one shut to hide the journalists' disfigured remains were crammed into a rundown funeral parlour in the southern Philippines, not far from where they were slaughtered with guns, machetes and a backhoe.

At least 30 journalists and their staff perished in the November 23 massacre that killed 27 other civilians in the deadliest single attack on the media in the world. The carnage drew worldwide condemnations, including from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but few think the killings will stop.

The victims were in a convoy to cover a local politician's filing of his intention to run for governor in predominantly Muslim Maguindanao province when dozens of gunmen allegedly led by a political rival abducted and then butchered them en masse on a nearby hill. All 57 people were raked with gunfire at close range and their bodies were hacked up.

Some were pinned by a backhoe, which also dug their mass graves. The main suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr, the son of a political warlord has been detained in Manila and faces multiple murder charges.

Journalists in the Philippines say they face such dangers on a daily basis. Raging Muslim and communist rebellions, more than a million unlicensed guns, clan wars, rampant crime and weak law enforcement conspire to create one of the world's most hostile environments for journalists, according to newspaper publisher Ronald Mascardo.

"When I leave for work each day, there's only a 50-50 chance I can return alive," said the 37-year-old Mascardo, who lost a staffer to the killings. "It's like Russian roulette, using a six-shooter loaded with three bullets."

Last Monday's ambush nearly wiped out the news staff of a regional tabloid, Periodico Ini, which lost five staffers. Another tabloid, Gold Star Daily, lost four.

‘Worst mass killing'

"This is the worst mass killing of journalists and media workers ever recorded," the Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a letter Friday, reminding her that 75 journalists had already been killed during her presidency.

That figure excludes last Monday's killings.

Mascardo considered joining last Monday's trip, but decided not to go because he thought it was too dangerous.

Such calculations have saved him in the past in southern Mindanao, where journalists have been shot to death for exposing corruption and misdeeds, kidnapped by Al Qaida-linked militants or threatened by officials and outlaws.