The VANGUARD

COLUMN/HONOR | Unsurprising Irony

This World Press Freedom Day, we commemorate those who have stood by the truth–even when it cost them their lives.

When I first saw the number of killed journalists in 2025 on social media, I wasn’t just saddened—I felt miserable. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recorded a record number of killed press members at 129 in the previous year—the most since the CPJ started monitoring the numbers and advocating for the protection of journalists globally. The unsurprising truth? The US-Israel Genocide was credited with 2/3 of the killings.

I felt miserable because today is World Press Freedom Day–a day meant to commemorate and give appreciation to press freedom advocates around the globe, but instead of commemoration, the global press outlet is met with reports of killed journalists, and the Philippines remains one of the deadliest countries for journalists. Because this fact remains as solid proof of something bigger–that commemoration was never enough, advocating and demanding for change is.

Furthermore, the deaths and illegal detention of community journalists around the country are evidence of why it’s extremely important that we don’t stop at just commemorating truth-bearers. The cases of RJ Ledesma, a community journalist who was among the activists and student-leaders killed by a military operation in Negros, and Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a community journalist who was arrested in 2020 on made-up cases, are just two examples of how press freedom is regularly being attacked not just in other countries but even locally in the Philippines–given the fact that the country remain to be among the deadliest places for press workers in the world as per The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUPJ).

It is also pretty ironic that the current administration has been silent about these press freedom violations, given the fact that these violations happened under Marcos Jr.’s administration. Because focusing your attention on just the economy, global relationships, and what you call democratic excellence is not just a mistake–it is an action that leads to the marginalization and oppression of other sectors, in this case, the media outlet inside your country.

While some may say that there are certain laws to protect journalists not just locally but also globally, this argument collapses once reality and statistics surface. After all, the NUPJ won’t be able to record 242 total number of press freedom violations as of April 2026, with 10 of those leading to the killing of press workers if press freedom really is being protected.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme, “Shaping a Future at Peace: Promoting Press Freedom for Human Rights, Development, and Security,” is not just words sewn to create a slogan–it’s a reminder to each and every one of us about how important and heavy journalists globally handle their duties. And we must take a stance. We must condemn genocides, we must fight the narrative that activists and community journalists are terrorists, and we must demand that the government also take a stand, to be one among the masses in condemning violence against journalists and truth-bearers globally.

Because the true freedom that Filipinos have long been dreaming of is only attainable when the truth is revealed, accepted, and fought for. No matter how unsurprising the irony, press freedom deserves to be protected alongside many other sectors. True liberation is possible only when the government, the people, and we, as individuals, learn to accept the truth.




Article by King Alexa Razon
Layout by Sophie Drilon

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