Philippines still ranks 7th in global impunity index

Relatives and supporters of victims of the country's worst political massacre light candles during a vigil at a park in Manila on December 18, 2019, on the eve of a court verdict in the case. The alleged masterminds of the Philippines' worst political massacre will learn their fate December 19 when a Manila court issues its verdict, in a test of the justice system for a nation with a deep-seated culture of impunity.

AFP / Ted Aljibe

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines remained in the seventh spot of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ global rankings of the worst countries for unsolved killings of media workers.

The Philippines maintained its ranking in the CPJ’s Global Impunity Index as the New York-based press freedom organization monitored 13 unsolved murders of journalists in the country between Sept. 1, 2011 and Aug. 31, 2021.

The country’s ranking improved last year largely due to a technicality as the November 2009 Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre — where 58 people were murdered including 32 media workers — no longer fell into the 10-year time frame for calculating the index.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/10/29/2137592/philippines-still-ranks-7th-global-impunity-index