Dakila Lacava sent out a notice about a new memorial she created with Gallia Sinatra devote to journalists in the Philippines murdered in the course of doing their duty. Called "Martyrs of Truth", it's a very simple structure with the names of the 62 Filipino journalists who have been "subjected to the ultimate censorship." At Blackrock sim (Click here to teleport).
The complete announcement after the jump…
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A Memorial to Slain Philippine Journalists
Builders: Dakila Lacava and Galilla Sinatra
At Blackrock (Click here to teleport)
The Philippines is a country of some 85 million people in Southeast Asia. Colonized for half a century by the Americans, it supposedly enjoys the rich democratic traditions of that former master.
Yet, for three years since 2004, this supposedly democratic nation was tagged by international media organizations as the second most murderous in the world for journalists, second only to war-torn Iraq. And although the incidents have dropped, the killings have not stopped.
It is a great irony that this dubious distinction has been earned during the term of a president – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – who came to power in 2001 on the heels of a popular uprising against her corrupt predecessor.
Since then, 62 Filipino journalists have been subjected to the ultimate censorship, the highest death toll for the profession under any sitting president, including the 14-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, who was himself booted from power by a people's uprising in 1986. And this toll is more than that under all three of her post-dictatorship predecessors.
While there is no proof that the murder of journalists is official policy, neither has this administration moved resolutely to end the bloodshed, just as it has turned a blind eye to the close to 1,000 extrajudicial killings that have been committed since 2001.
This is a tribute to those who have fallen in the dark night that has descended on their land but whose flame, the light of truth and free expression, has not been extinguished.
Since the so-called democratic restoration of 1986, almost a hundred journalists in all have been killed.
(This is a private build but has been endorsed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the largest media organization in the Philippines, which has been in the forefront of the struggle for press freedom and journalists' safety.
The build is based on information compiled by the NUJP, which has also been following up on the unsolved cases and working to pressure government into ending the bloodshed. For more information, please visit the NUJP website at http://www.nujp.org. You may also email them at nujphil @gmail.com .
The NUJP and the free Philippine press will appreciate all the support you can give, the most important of which is spreading the word about what is happening over there. Love and peace.)
Our gratitude to Winfried Ferraris for giving the memorial a home.
For inquiries please IM Dakila Lacava or Cheryl Nitely