Category: Opinions

Jarius Bondoc
December 14, 2023

This photo taken on November 10, 2023 shows China coast guard personnel sailing an aluminum hulled boat at Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)

The best defense is offense. China schemes to steal oil and gas in Recto Bank within the Philippine exclusive economic zone. To avert that, the Philippines must extract the fuel for itself.

It can be done; it has been done. Up to two years ago, China coveted Malaysia’s offshore petroleum. The latter held naval patrols with America and Australia while drilling for oil. Indonesia requested a US aircraft carrier sail by as it drilled as well in Natuna Isles that China was grabbing.

Beijing shrieked. Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta coolly recited portions of Manila’s 2016 arbitral victory at The Hague against Beijing’s illegal claim over the entire South China Sea.

“Now China is quiet, while Malaysia and Indonesia enjoy their oil,” notes former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio. “We should also invite naval allies to joint exercises while we drill in Recto.”

Recto has proven reserves. In 2013, the US Energy Information Administration estimated it at 5.4 billion barrels of oil and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. That’s 63.5 times more oil and 20.5 times more gas than Malampaya, which will run out between 2024 and 2027.

National existence hangs on Recto replacing Malampaya. The latter fuels 40 percent of Luzon’s electricity. With no alternative, Luzon and parts of the Visayas will plunge into darkness.

Imagine the disaster. Water service, factories, offices, shops, telecoms, trains, schools, hospitals, hotels, diners, cinemas, and churches will close—no work or classes from home either. Foreign investors will leave. Jobs will vanish.

Recto is within the Philippines’ 200-mile EEZ a hundred miles from Palawan. It’s 650 miles from China’s southernmost province Hainan, thus outside its EEZ. The Hague Arbitral Court affirmed. China can’t claim it by imagined “nine-, ten- or 11-dash line.”

Although China snubbed the hearings, it’s bound by The Hague verdict under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Its state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. has no right to drill there.

CNOOC cannot subcontract to private exploration firms, says Carpio. Shell, Occidental, and Exxon, among others, are bound by international law, so will shun CNOOC.

Manila discovered gas in Recto’s Sampaguita fields in 1976. Three wells at 250 feet proved productive. The government awarded Service Contract-72 in 2002. Britain’s Forum Energy took interest in 2005. China repeatedly menaced its survey vessels.

Filipino magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan bought Forum to extract petroleum once and for all. Twice the Duterte admin delayed him to let CNOOC in, only to realize that the Chinese-state firm was only dribbling the ball. The Philippines also ran out of time.

Recto Petroleum is why China strives to dislodge BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal. Ayungin (international name: Second Thomas) is at the entrance of Recto (Reed). The Philippine Navy beached its vessel there in 1999 to counter China’s 1995 occupation of nearby Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.

China’s Communist Party has long been craving Recto. Despite posing China as an ancient civilization, the CCP acts uncivilized.

Sierra Madre’s dozen or so Marines need regular supply and rotation. China Coast Guard gunboats ram and water cannon Filipino wooden civilian bancas ferrying food and other basic needs. The latest barbarism was on Dec. 10, the 75th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

China’s coast guards report to CCP’s military commission. They shouldn’t be in Panganiban or anywhere in or near Ayungin, or Rozul (Iroquois) and Escoda (Sabina) Shoals in Recto’s west and east sides.

“We should repair Sierra Madre,” says international maritime lawyer Jay Batongbacal, Ph.D. But China bars it, so the World War II vintage ship and Filipino defenders would crash into the sea.

CCP mobilizes jingoist Chinese for aggression. Among the blockers of last Sunday’s Ayungin resupply were a Chinese cargo ship and two maritime militia trawlers.

The previous day, other militia trawlers assisted Chinese coast guards in water cannoning two Philippine government vessels near Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was only bringing fuel and food to Filipino catchers outside the shoal, which China grabbed in 2012.

On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Chinese cargo steel ship M/V Tai Hang rammed a Filipino wooden boat. The sun was bright at 4 p.m. and the sea calm when – Huang! One of the five Filipinos thrown overboard was able to video two Chinese crewmen on deck ascertaining the hit-and-run.

At Recto in June 2019, a Chinese militia trawler switched off its light and then rammed an anchored Filipino boat at midnight. It switched its light back on momentarily to check if the 26 Filipinos had fallen into the sea, then fled.

It’s time Filipinos took the offensive.

Jarius Bondoc is an award-winning Filipino journalist and author based in Manila. He writes opinion pieces for The Philippine Star and Pilipino Star Ngayon and hosts a radio program on DWIZ 882 every Saturday. Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM). The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.

Father Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, C.M. | November 23, 2023

How to move forward in a disruptive, volatile, and chaotic world? In what form does Christian theology and mission take in view of a world in crisis? When many people on the ground are experiencing an “apocalypse” in their lives — from Ukraine to Gaza, from victims of extrajudicial killings to victims of climate disasters, in what form does missiology take?

In such a context, I plead for an “apocalyptic missiology”.

Apocalyptic discourse is blamed for apathy and inaction because it is fear-mongering. If a crisis will surely end in catastrophe, can our insignificant steps prevent it? Is there a space for human responsibility in apocalyptic contexts?

Metz writes: “Our apocalyptical consciousness is not threatened with a paralyzing fear of catastrophe. It is, on the contrary, called upon to display a practical solidarity with the least of the brethren; that is clear from the apocalyptic chapters at the end of the gospel of St. Matthew.”

In short, for Metz, it is the sense of the end that leads us out of ourselves and to be responsible for the marginalized and the excluded. Apocalyptic spirituality is not about a frantic concern for one’s salvation in the face of God’s imminent arrival. No, it is about being in “practical solidarity” with the hungry, the thirsty, the mournful, and the lowly—for this is a sign that God’s kingdom has come into our midst (Matthew 25).

The great Protestant missiologist, David Bosch, echoes the same idea. In his book Transforming Mission, he calls St. Paul an apocalyptic. And Paul’s extensive missionary work is driven by apocalyptic missiology.

“Whereas in some early Christian circles, an ardent expectation of the imminent end tended to dampen the idea of a wide-ranging missionary outreach, exactly the opposite is true in Paul’s case: ‘He is the herald of the gospel… and all of this is part of his eschatological mission’.”

In times of apocalyptic crises, church people tend to be sectarian and exclusivist. We are tempted to get out of society and get into the church lifeboat to be concerned with our own salvation because the end is near. In the words of Pope Francis, in times of crisis, we tend to be a “self-referential church”, concerned only of our own self-preservation.

Paul was unlike the Parousia enthusiasts of his time. His zeal for the mission led him to go out beyond his borders, to preach to the Gentiles, to do more — because, in truth, we “can only proclaim the lordship of Christ, not inaugurate it; it remains the prerogative of God himself to usher in the end.” Authentic apocalyptic hope thus compels us towards ethical responsibility.

In theological language, Metz writes: “The Christian idea of imitation and the apocalyptic idea of the imminent expectation belong together. It is not possible to imitate Jesus radically, that is, at the level of the roots of life, if ‘the time is not shortened’. Jesus’ call: ‘Follow me!’ and the call of Christians: ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’ are inseparable.”

I would like to end with the mothers and widows of the extrajudicial killings. Despite the deaths of their breadwinners, they have survived the “apocalypse” of their lives, the killings. As if it was not enough it was not enough, another apocalypse came, the pandemic. But they survived.

The then Vice President of the Philippines, Leni Robredo, gave them a surprise visit to encourage them in their work. She entrusted them to sew more PPEs and face masks which the world desperately needs during the pandemic.

While the whole world lost their jobs, or while the Duterte government was busy cashing in on imported face masks from China, ironically the widows were honestly sewing facemasks to provide for their families.

One widow told me: “Our husbands were killed by armed men wearing facemasks. Now, we are making facemasks not to kill but to make people live.”

By Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza

January 23, 2023
Manila, Philippines

What does it say about our society when the economy is up, but wages remain stagnant, prices are increasing, and the poor remain poor?

Last January 13, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno reported that the Philippine economy grew by 7.5% in 2022, and is expected to grow by 6.5% this 2023, a projection touted by President Marcos during the World Economic Forum just this week.

Similarly, this week, the price of a kilogram of onions reached 800 pesos. While the increase in the commodity’s price seems comical, its implications are not. Several farmers have already expressed frustration over their losses despite the increase in onion prices, with at least five farmers reportedly killing themselves because of it. The same farmers express concern over the plans to import more onions outside the country in order to decrease onion prices, even as reports of smugglers and hoarders in the onion trade have abounded.

Onions are just among the many basic commodities whose prices have soared in the past few months. Just last month, economists noted that inflation rose to more than 8%, the highest it has been for 14 years. By this week, diesel will have seen a 0.50 peso-per-liter increase while gas will also increase by 0.95 peso-per-liter. Because of this level of inflation, while economic experts from Mercer forecast an increase of 5.5% in employee salaries this year, they also admit that no real wage increase will be happening.

On paper, it seems as if the economy is doing just fine, so fine that the President – in the middle of rising prices back home – can confidently speak on it in a Forum of billionaires abroad. It is certainly the right audience, as according to Oxfam in a report released this week, the number of those worth $5 million (P278.24 million) and above has increased by almost half or 43.5% since 2012. According to the same report, some $26 trillion or 63 percent out of all new wealth worth $42 trillion was captured by the richest 1% while $16 trillion or 37% went to the rest of the world.

In the Philippines, Oxfam reported that the top nine richest Filipinos have more wealth compared to 55 million or half of the entire Philippine population. This is interesting to put side-by-side with the report by Forbes that the collective wealth of the 50 richest Filipinos decreased from $79 billion to $72 billion “amid the country’s recovery from pandemic headwinds.”

Thus, the question at the beginning of this article. What does it say about our society when we celebrate economic growth when we know that life is getting harder for our impoverished neighbors? What does it mean when the rich not only get richer, but are most profitable during times of crisis, such that their riches lessen as the rest of society recovers? The answer is simple: that Pope Francis was right. We are living in an economy of exclusion.

UCANews
November 21, 2022  
Crossing the Line
Father Shay Cullen, MSSC

This year, instead of buying a cut tree for Christmas, plant one instead

COP27, the environmental conference on climate crises that concluded in Egypt last week, heard the voice of the Catholic Church calling for climate justice and restitution payments for the loss and damage caused by the industrial nations against the poor. Many in the hard-hearted rich industrial countries refuse to admit and accept their responsibility and liability for causing the climate crises.

These are the powerful hidden forces of industry that capture government departments and compromise and bribe politicians and bend them to their will. Their will is for all to deny that there is a climate crisis and leave the world as it is, consuming fossil fuel non-stop.

The planet is heading for a cliff at full speed, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, with the deniers and obstructers’ foot hard down on the accelerator. The tipping point of no return will soon be reached when the heating cycle of the planet continues indefinitely. Life on earth will be unbearable for creatures, plants and humans, the experts say.Ucan Store

Paying reparations for harm being done to poor nations is an urgent matter of conscience, according to Archbishop Nicolas Thévenin, Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and deputy head of the Holy See’s delegation. He said that the rich industrial nations must pay compensation for polluting the planet and damaging the lives and environment of everyone else. In rather undiplomatic words, the rich countries must stand up and pay up.

“All humans have to save the environment and the planet from the destructive forces of irresponsible governments and industry”

“It is imperative that we build bridges of solidarity. Those who are most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change are urgently calling for real support in this moment of crisis.” he said, “to ignore them [those affected by climate crisis] would be a failure of conscience.”

Pope Francis in Laudato Si teaches that all humans have to save the environment and the planet from the destructive forces of irresponsible governments and industry that cause global warming and the massive disasters that are happening around the world.

The damage to small countries from floods, typhoons and drought is immense and is brought upon them by irresponsible governments that approve coal and oil power stations and are paying oil companies a trillion dollars in subsidies to explore more oil and gas. This is extreme hypocrisy and a total contradiction to their statements in the past and today at COP 27 where they vow to reduce CO2 and methane levels in the atmosphere. In fact, they are increasing the emissions of CO2.

The Philippines has 28 polluting coal-fired plants and industry moguls and some government cronies and politicians under their influence are demanding to build 20 more coal plants. Public opinion is steadfast against any more and clamors for free renewable power from nature.

The tycoons and government must invest in low-cost renewable energy generating sources like wind, solar geothermal, hydro and biomass. Oil companies worldwide are among the worst in causing CO2 and toxic contamination.

The papal encyclical has inspired many to join The Laudato Si Movement (LSM) of committed lay people, priests, religious, and hopefully bishops. Working together with many organizations, they are committed to saving the planet by raising awareness and inspiring action to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions.

The objectives are: “To urge political, business and social leaders to commit to ambitious climate action to solve this urgent crisis and keep the global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius (relative to pre-industrial levels). They can be found at www.Laudatosi.org.

The bishops and priests can roll up their sleeves and get out of the comfort of their palaces, rectories and cloisters”

The one group they overlooked to mention by name is the bishops of the world. They need to be inspired, motivated, and challenged to act and help save the creation from global warming. Sadly, not all bishops in the USA support Pope Francis on his stand in Laudato Si. Many are silent and some are misleading on climate change, says research by Creighton University in Nebraska.

If bishops around the world took up the call of Pope Francis and began their own environmental-changing project in their diocese and plant at least 1,000 tree saplings and care for them that would be a great contribution. They could teach by example and encourage every parish to have its own tree-planting project. They could offer a prize for the best effort.

The bishops and priests can roll up their sleeves and get out of the comfort of their palaces, rectories and cloisters and lead the people in planting trees. It’s a powerful way to teach the Gospel values and inspire and unite a parish.

       In this time of pandemic where many people are getting  sick or are dying or have already died and where many more are getting hungry and losing their jobs and their businesses, President Rodrigo Duterte, his  loyalist Bong Go and their underlings as well as their  Chinese cohorts have used the health crisis to steal the people’s money in billions of pesos.

       Nothing speaks more eloquently of the symbol of corruption in this present administration than the facemask and faceshield that we Filipinos are required to wear. These protective gears were bought from their Chinese connections at grossly overpriced amounts, totaling into billions of pesos!

       That this plunder of public funds was done at a time when the whole nation is suffering from the ill effects of the pandemic is appalling and unforgiving. It is a brazen act of corruption committed with impunity and without regard to human life.

       The source of the funds are the laws passed by Congress and signed by Duterte known as Bayanihan 1 and 2.

       While poor Filipinos get their “Ayudas” from the Bayanihan laws in small amounts, patiently waiting for their measly share to tide them over for a few weeks under community quarantines, this Duterte Administration awarded more than P8 Billion contract to an unknown small company known as Pharmally Pharmaceutical, Inc. with a small capital of P625,000 and with a fake address and its incorporators linked to a Chinese who was a former economic adviser of the President.

      With the procurement of these grossly overpriced facemasks and faceshields and other medical supplies, Pharmally hit a jackpot, earning billions of pesos at the expense of the poor and suffering Filipinos.

       They literally made a killing out of this corrupt transaction. While Filipinos are dying and more are getting sick, Duterte and his cohorts are laughing themselves all the way to possibly staying in power beyond 2022 with a huge election money to be able to buy the votes of the poor and suffering Filipinos.

       This facemask transaction has unmasked the hypocrisy of Duterte who has vowed to fight corruption and remove officials even if there is just a “whiff of corruption” in any government agency.

       We are indeed stupid as a people if we allow ourselves to be fooled again by this populist President.

       Unmask him now and remove any protective shield of power that he still presently enjoys. Otherwise the virus of complacency and don’t-care-attitude of majority of our countrymen will continue to infect our nation, a virus that is more potent and virulent which destroys not just individual lives but more so the very foundation of our beloved Philippines.

       Kung hindi ngayon, kelan pa? Kung hindi tayo kikibo at umaksyon, kawawa ang Pilipinas, kawawa ang susunod na henerasyon!

By: Solita Collas-Monsod

4 September 2021

Women politicians and leaders—the right kind, of course—are getting to be more and more the attractive choice as we approach the elections next year. Two weeks ago, I presented hard evidence from a study involving 193 countries and their COVID-19 outcomes, which showed that when women-led countries are compared to countries similar to them along a range of characteristics, they have performed better, experiencing fewer cases as well as fewer deaths.

Reader Eugenio S. Jose then emailed me, asking me to see if there were women leaders who turned into dictators. An interesting point, and I followed his suggestion.

My findings: Apparently, as of June 2020, 70 countries in the modern era have seen women-led governments. As far as I can make out, only one of them, Indira Gandhi of India, became a dictator, on the ruse of a state of emergency in India. This after being prime minister for nine years. But then, her dictatorship (involving suspension of civil rights, press censorship, no deaths/tortures) lasted only 21 months—she herself called for elections, where she lost her seat. But she became prime minister again three years later, so obviously she had some redeeming traits.

Understand, this was a quick and dirty look. But it suggests that 1) women don’t become dictators (one among 70); and 2) the only exception was, compared to male dictatorships (think only of Marcos), a rather short, almost benevolent one.

So that’s another argument for women-led governments. They are very much less likely to seize power and hold it till death do them part. Which is something that we should think about, considering what has been happening around the world, and more importantly in the Philippines of late.

Now comes the question: Which woman leader should we choose? There are, unfortunately for us, only two who are in the running, and at that, no one has officially declared. But we know who they are: Vice President Leni Robredo and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Well, what do we know about them? I went to Wikipedia, and I also googled the two ladies. And I must say, based on what I read from these two sources, there is no question in my mind that Leni Robredo is the better candidate. You are of course free to disagree with me, Reader, as long as you also show your basis.

First, the similarities: Both are lawyers, with Leni an Economics major (UP) and Sara a Respiratory Therapy major (San Pedro College). Leni had to take the bar a second time before she passed—and I can understand why, with a young, growing family to look after while she was studying.

Sara has been active in politics since 2007, with a hiatus in 2013-2016, as vice mayor and then as mayor, with either father or brother as her running mates. Product of dynastic politics.

Leni entered politics in 2013, battling the matriarch of the reigning political dynasty, whom she beat handily (70 percent over 20 percent). Do you remember that picture of her waiting for a bus to take her from Makati to Naga? What does that tell you about her? So eight years in politics, including the vice presidency which she won battling other dynasties.

What is noteworthy, Reader, is that search as I might, I could not google any information about any project or any activity that Sara Duterte undertook as a political leader, much less in civil society. I do remember a picture of her assaulting a sheriff who was trying to do his duty. On the other hand, Leni Robredo has the Sumilao Farmers’ Express, the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal, which extends legal support to the needy, and the Lakas ng Kababaihan ng Naga under her belt. The Office of the Vice President always passes the COA audit with flying colors, and has received awards for excellent management.

Another, and perhaps the most important, difference between the two, is that Leni will come into the presidency with clean hands and a clean heart. No political baggage: She is a widow, her children have no political ambitions, so the corruption potential is minimized. Only remember our previous women presidents who had to contend with either spouse, children, or siblings.

Think of it, folks. Wouldn’t you like to have, finally, a leadership approach that is nurturing, moral, and reconciliatory, after five years of the opposite?

solita_monsod@yahoo.com

Statement by the Movement Against Tyranny

August 31, 2021

The Movement Against Tyranny is aghast at the extent of mismanagement and irregularities in the government’s pandemic response, as revealed in the 2020 COA reports and the ongoing Senate investigations.

Particularly odious are the transactions in the DOH, to include overpriced personal protective equipment, medicines and supplies that point to a deliberate scheme to plunder the nation’s coffers under the cover of the pandemic.

Clearly, Sec. Francisco Duque, III has to go. But he is a mere symptom; it’s Duterte who is the disease, the cancer that has to be excised if we are to be saved. In fact others like Duque have not been eliminated, only transferred to other government positions and allowed to fester there, so that they remain under Duterte’s watch and control, lest they be pressured to tell on him.

More than ever, therefore, Duterte should be stopped and brought to justice, before any effort at reform could be credible at all.#

Statement by the Movement Against Tyranny
June 15, 2021

The Movement Against Tyranny welcomes the filing of Internatonal Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of a request for authorizaton from the ICC pre-trial chamber to formally investigate the Duterte government for its crime against humanity of murder in relation to Pres. Duterte’s war on drugs.

This is one big step in the quest for justice for thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings under Duterte’s brutal regime. It is a testament to the perseverance of the families of the victims, their lawyers, and all those who have dared to demand justice in these dark times.

We urge the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber to act favorably on Prosecutor Bensouda’s request so that the investgation can immediately proceed. This is of great urgency because the killings are ongoing, with Duterte continuing to give bloody orders to the police. The ICC should realize that the investgation can somehow put pressure on the perpetrators to stop the killings, which have now morphed into the wholesale murders of activists, government critics, and ordinary citizens tagged as communists and terrorists.

We demand no less than full cooperation from the Philippine authorities. Pres. Dutete cannot hide behind his self-serving withdrawal from the ICC as the crimes to be investigated happened when the Philippines was still a member of the Court.#

Ref.: Sr. Mary John Mananzan and Dr. Carol Araullo,
MAT co-convenors

March 10, 2021  

QUO USQUE TANDEM, CATILINA, ABUTERE PATIENTIA NOSTRA  
(How long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience?)

A Statement of Concern of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace  on the Killings in the Philippines

Dear fellow Filipinos, our brother Bishops, and our political leaders,

I was unable to sleep last night fully disturbed by the killings on Sunday, March 7, 2021, and the arbitrary executions before that. Then, I was alarmed by the realization that violence, which was incited at first by harmful, pervasive and deeply damaging rhetoric of the government’s highest officials, has become a daily fixture in the Philippine society.

Everything seemed to be fixed by the barrel of a gun. Insurgency and terrorism are equated to activism, defense of human and nature’s rights, and the call to respect freedom of speech, and the right to selfdetermination.

We have seen no government, after the Marcos dictatorship, such as this one urging openly and repetitively the military and the police to “kill, kill, kill.” But what is more dangerous to my mind is the fact that seemingly, we have grown to be accustomed to tolerating this blatant disregard to the rule of law, by disrespecting the integrity of public office. 

For almost five years we have let our leaders take command of our collective silence. They interpreted our inaction and passive nature as explicit permission to stir unlawful behavior as long as it is covered by legal orders and memorandum.

The quote from Cicero’s first speech against Catiline in 63 BC detailing conspiracy, abuse of power and reign of impunity still holds true in our present political environment: “When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?”

But we must also be asking ourselves: “Quousque nos tacemus?” How long will we be silent in the face of threats and harassments, of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings, of red-tagging and arbitrary detentions.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have spoken for us. The farmers in Negros, the Tumandok IP leaders in Capiz, and the activists in Southern Tagalog have died already fighting for their cause. So what about us? What is our conscience telling us?  If you are disturbed as much as I was, now is the time to create a culture of peace. Let’s start within each Filipino family.

May the Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede for us. Amen.

Shay Cullen
8 May 2021

A Japanese journalist has been arrested and held in prison in Myanmar for reporting the news. He is accused of reporting “fake news” under the tough restriction on reporting by the military junta.

The killing goes on but it is not mainstream journalists that are widely reporting it. A new generation of amateur volunteer journalists- the civil reporters- who are often in the thick of the demonstrations reporting live over the internet when it is not shut off.

Two Spanish journalists, David Beriain and cameraman Roberto Fraile, were killed last month in an ambush attack against an army convoy in the tri-border Sahel zone of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in the African Sahel region.

They were on the way to a national park where poachers and armed groups are active killing wildlife like elephants and rhino.

Life for professional journalists is increasingly precarious and dangerous. Many countries have introduced draconian anti-terrorist laws and media restriction laws that consider criticism of the government an act of subversion or even terrorism. Many professional journalists, while trying to report the news, have been arrested, jailed, and killed.

In 2015, there were 73 journalists killed, in 2018, as many as 56 were killed. In 2019, there were 26 killed. In 2020, another 32 killed and so far in 2021there have been 5 killed, according to the Committee to Defend Journalists (CDJ). Shocking records of violent response against the Free Press, most have been murdered for reporting unfavorably about corruption among politicians and criminal gangs. Others were caught in the crossfire in war zones.

That is not all. Hundreds have been jailed. Since 2020, the number of incarcerated journalists is 274 in jails around the world for their work telling the truth. The majority are in prisons in China and Turkey. There are 30 plus journalists jailed in each. These countries are among the most severe violators of human rights and free speech. They are oppressors of journalists and manipulators of the truth. Many more journalists are imprisoned in India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, and Syria. In Belarus, 10 are in prison for reporting on the demonstrations.