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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Is the Maguindanao Massacre being commemorated in memory only of the 32 dead journalists?

November 24, 2012
by 
Check out this screen grab from the Inquirer.net website captured at 1000H Australian EDST, 24 Nov 2012:
Caption on photo reads as follows:
Protesters gather in Mendiola to commemorate the third anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre. Behind them are the 32 coffins representing the journalists who were among the 58 killed in Sharif Aguak on Nov. 23, 2009.
Is it really always about the dead journalists?
What about the other 26 “ordinary” people who also died in that massacre? Aren’t they worthy of being represented by 26 additional coffins in this protest rally? Are they not good enough to be included in their “cry for justice”?
So 32 journalists were killed in Maguindanao two years ago (the fact that these were journalists probably accounts for the place the story holds in the hierarchy of priority stories that take up Media space and minutes). That, of course, is something to grieve and express outrage about on a national scale. Perhaps the attention it gets is so considering how death on such a scale can happen within such a short span of time — and one that involves journalists no less.
But see as I recall — and wrote about — back then, there were 57 victims. What disturbs me is that I see a lot of 32′s being quoted in the various blurbs coming out of the damp woodwork today but not much of the 57′s. Is it because 32 is the more significant number to cite?

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