Encounter

It was all so fuzzy, the day I met this man. He was lounging at the lobby of their radio station where his colleague was also at, waiting for me to start an interview. I gave my hello, introduced myself and him as well, then proceeded on to my daily grind. That afternoon I received a Facebook friend request and a page invite, his name was Rey Cortes.

When news broke out yesterday that he was gunned down, I was in shock. What made it worse was that he was killed right outside the radio station, after his daily program. The gunman’s location couldn’t even be pinpointed, he probably used a long-range rifle. Until today the question remains; who did it?

The Cebu Citizen Press Council was right when they said that even if Cortes was paying for airtime, he was a person who used his free will and speech on the airwaves whose life was cut short because of underlying issues. He is one of the many people who work in the media to be silenced by an attack. I also asked why? A quick review of his program showed that he tackled a lot of topics within that one hour that he was commentating. It ranged from COVID response to politics, it is really hard to pinpoint based on what we see and hear.

According to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Cortes is the twentieth person in the media industry who was gunned down since the start of the Duterte Administration. Of course there are many underlying factors in one's profession - integrity and honesty first, of course, most especially that there is credibility to protect. But what happens when that is compromised? That also makes people mistrust journalists. But then again, the issue is the killing of one's life because of a grudge or hard-hitting comments.

Ever since I worked as a journalist, I also feared for my life. Every time I do a story on a very controversial person or when the election nears, it feels like every story should be carefully thought of. All its elements should be in place, or else it might cost a life. Yet I don't think we should be living in fear especially in this day and age. Yes, it’s so easy for them to take us down because of what they hear on the airwaves but all the more we should fight for genuine press freedom.

Honestly, the line between legitimate journalists and those who get paid by certain entities is very narrow. At most times, they blur and it gets very difficult to pull them apart. My only wish is that instead of encounters that aren't necessary that would hurt families, it is due process. We need people who can genuinely tell stories but also be strong for the craft of journalism. To uphold the highest form of ethics is a challenge but it is also immoral to kill.