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Coronel stressed the significance of the Philippines' terrible ranking--third worst in the world--in our Global Impunity Index. Assistant Justice Secretary Sy questioned the validity of the study, citing the type of journalists being included--generally heavily partisan radio commentators in politically divided provincial towns--and Fadullon, the lead prosecutor in the Maguindanao case, questioned CPJ's methodology in accounting for motive in the killings. It was the same sort of criticism we had gotten from Justice Department officials in the previous administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This time we were able to confront the criticisms face to face, and convince them that the index does indeed reflect a legitimate statistical assessment, one that we have presented and discussed with the World Bank.
Salazar-Ferro, who had worked for years in CPJ's Latin America section, pointed out that Colombia and Brazil had problems very similar to the Philippines'--provincial journalists using confrontational rhetoric and muckraking reporting against well-entrenched politicians. It was an exciting moment when the staffers pressed her to pass on contacts and references in those countries to start an exchange of information. It now appears that Salazar-Ferro is on the speed dial of several staffers at Malacañang.
The Aquino staffers were clearly concerned about the need to address impunity and the broader problems of the criminal justice system--the shortcoming of the witness protection program, the lack of police forensic capability, and overworked and under-resourced prosecutors, not to mention a creaking criminal justice code that was written in 1932 and repeatedly patched over the years. They were frank in their assessments and struck all of us as genuinely sincere in their desire to rebuild the Philippines' broken justice system.
Despite the hostage tragedy of the night before, the feeling remained that the Aquino administration is in a honeymoon period, with mounds of domestic and international political goodwill stemming from Aquino's personal integrity and his family heritage--his mother Corazon Aquino took over after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. The current President Aquino and his justice secretary have repeatedly addressed issues like impunity and journalists' rights and media freedom in a manner that demonstrates that they aim mightily to confront those problems head-on--along with so many others their country faces. They might not be able to fix all those problems, but it seems clear they have the intent and hopefully the skill to leave the country in better condition than the way they found it when their terms of office end six years from now.
(Reporting from Manila)
Updated: We updated this entry to correct a reference to the World Bank in paragraph four. CPJ has discussed and presented the index to the World Bank. Our original entry said it was "recognized" by the World Bank.
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dear bob,
thanks for the time, effort and sincerity.
just to set the facts right - we could not have questioned the study because it was not presented to us. we were sharing our experiences with your team. you also did not share how "the index does indeed reflect a legitimate statistical assessment--one that is recognized by the World Bank" because it was not discussed. we agree with your observations on the weaknesses of the justice system here and elsewhere.
please do send the materials to us for our information and learning.
best regards.
Dear Undersecretary Sy,
It was a genuinely productive meeting. We're preparing a lengthy response to all of the requests from your side that came out of the session.
We're looking forward to more exchanges like that. I think our team came away with a sense of shared concerns with President Aquino's government.
And we greatly appreciate the time you took to meet with us.
Bob