On Nov. 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the NUJP said its Media Safety Office documented 266 attacks and threats against media workers and at least 12 journalists killed under the administration of Marcos Jr. 

Behind the figures, the group said, are journalists whose lives were cut short, families who lost their loved ones and communities denied their right to information.

“Every unresolved killing sends a dangerous message that those who target journalists can get away with it,” the group said in statement.

The Union of Journalists of the Philippines-University of the Philippines (UJP-UP), in its “Impunity Opresses” report also released on Nov. 2, traced incidents including arrests, cyber libel complaints, online harassment and killings throughout 2026.

The student press group said the press fulfills its duty to the people when journalists confront power without fear or favor to advance social change — but that when unchecked power moves against journalists to serve its own interests, the press is oppressed and the people are defeated.

The Philippines ranked 114th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index, down in score to 46.79 from 49.57 in 2025 despite moving up two spots in rank.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) recorded 239 attacks and threats from July 1, 2022 to April 30, 2026, with 107 involving intimidation.

The country has also remained on the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Global Impunity Index every year since 2008. In its 2024 assessment, the Philippines ranked ninth, with 18 unresolved journalist murders recorded within the index’s coverage period. 

Arrests and legal action 

Community journalist Frencie Mae Cumpio was convicted Jan. 22 of terrorism financing by the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban, sentenced to at least 12 years after spending more than six years in detention. She has appealed to the Court of Appeals.

In March, DZRH reporter Misael Boy Gonzales Jr. and Roxas City journalist India Lavapiez were arrested in separate cases involving alleged data privacy and cyberlibel violations. 

Lavapiez and her husband, Jay Lavapiez, both broadcasters for Baskog Radio, also faced complaints from local political figures over their reporting on corruption. On June 22, Jay survived an assassination attempt.

GMA journalists Mel Tianco, Vicky Morales, Emil Sumangil and Darlene Cay faced libel and cyberlibel complaints Oct. 23 filed by Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte over a report aired on 24 Oras. 

A day later, veteran journalist Philip Lustre Jr. was arrested on a cyberlibel complaint filed by lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte. He posted bail of nearly P50,000 and was released.

Police harassed journalists covering protests. Bulatlat contributor Jian Sanz was detained July 22 while covering a demonstration near the ASEAN Summit in Pasay City. Photojournalists Bulit Marquez and Rene Dilan were also reportedly prohibited from photographing the event. 

On Oct. 19, Bulatlat reporter Aaron Ernest Cruz was manhandled by police while covering a farmers’ protest outside the Department of Agrarian Reform despite showing media credentials.

Unresolved killings

Nestor Micator, a broadcaster in Cotabato, was shot May 21 in front of a barangay hall by unidentified gunmen. The CPJ’s documentation of Micator’s killing said the circumstances surrounding the attack and its possible connection to his work remain under investigation. 

Adrian “Golden Boy” Loterte, an anchor with RBN News Television in Albay, was killed Oct. 12 by two unidentified gunmen at a business establishment in Daraga. The CPJ condemned the killing and called for investigation.

RJ Nichole Ledesma of Paghimutad-Negros Island Alternative Media died in April during a military operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental, while reporting on renewable energy projects. UNESCO condemned his killing, though conflicting accounts surround the incident.

These deaths add to unresolved cases including the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, which left 58 people dead, including 32 journalists. Convictions were secured in 2019, but dozens of accused remain at large. Photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay, missing since the massacre, has not been officially recognized as a victim.

Palawan broadcaster Gerry Ortega, killed in 2011 while reporting on corruption, remains unsolved. Former Gov. Joel Reyes remained at large as of May 2024, the CPJ documented.

Climate of intimidation

Red-tagging, online harassment and legal complaints contribute to the shrinking space for independent journalism. 

The Commission on Human Rights warned in a May 2026 statement that  red-tagging continues threatening journalists, lawyers, students, indigenous peoples and labor leaders. 

The CHR noted the absence of a law specifically penalizing red-tagging as an accountability barrier.

UNESCO released a Nov. 2 report stating 189 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2024 and 2025, with 86 percent of killings remaining judicially unresolved.

The UJP-UP called for collective action to defend press freedom, saying attacks on journalists are also attacks on the public’s right to know. (davaotoday.com)

In a news conference on Oct. 30, the Truth Commission said death certificates listed pneumonia, heart attack, sepsis, high blood pressure, and stroke as causes of death, contradicting forensic examinations conducted by commission member and forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun.

The commission reviewed 13 cases from Caloocan and Quezon cities. Eleven victims were killed in 2016 and two in 2018. Forensic examinations in all 13 cases found gunshot wounds to the head or torso.

Six listed pneumonia, four heart attack, one sepsis, one high blood pressure, and one stroke with bleeding and high blood pressure.

Fortun said the discrepancies raised questions about how the deaths were documented and if the certificates accurately reflected the circumstances. 

She said the cases exposed broader weaknesses in the country’s system for investigating suspicious deaths, particularly the absence of clear procedures for determining causes of death.

“We don’t have a death investigation system. The body is evidence. The scene is evidence,” Fortun said. 

Fortun recalled a 2018 autopsy in which a man shot multiple times in the head and chest was recorded as having died of a heart attack.

The commission said the questioned certificates may represent only a fraction of the problem, given the thousands of deaths reported during the drug war under former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The death certificate is the official record of the cause of death of the victim. It is important that the death certificate reflects the truth about how that person died,” Fortun said during the news conference.

The commission identified five physicians whose signatures appeared on the questioned certificates: Dr. Amadea S. Cruz, a medical officer at the Caloocan Health Department who has since died, in five cases; Dr. Kathleen J. Timogan, listed as a private physician, in five cases; Dr. Arnold B. Montero, in one case; Dr. Ramil Q. Razon, in one case; and Dr. Leonilo M. Aquino, a medical officer at the Torres-Bugallon Health Center, in one case.

Identifying the doctors was not a declaration of guilt, the commission stressed, but a call to investigate the medical basis of their certifications. 

The commission also acknowledged that some doctors may have been pressured to issue inaccurate certifications during the drug war, possibly making them victims themselves. Still, it said, the five doctors’ signatures warrant scrutiny and possible disciplinary action, subject to due process.

Accountability, corrections

The commission urged the PRC’s Board of Medicine and the PMA’s ethics committee to determine what medical evidence supported the doctors’ diagnoses and why the certificates did not reflect the gunshot wounds documented in the forensic findings.

It also called on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), local civil registrars, and health authorities to help families correct the death certificates using complete forensic evidence.

Commission Chair Raul Pangalangan, a former judge at the International Criminal Court, said inaccurate death records could conceal the violence suffered by victims and obstruct their families’ pursuit of justice.

“Honoring the dead this All Souls’ Day means more than remembering them. It means setting their records straight and holding those responsible to account,” Pangalangan said.

Lawyer Ted Te, chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group and a faculty member of the University of the Philippines College of Law, said correcting death certificates may require legal proceedings, making the process difficult for grieving families.

He said the justice system involves not only court proceedings but also proper investigation, evidence gathering and documentation of deaths.

“If you can’t get the facts, then you can’t even get to court,” Te said, stressing that inadequate documentation could prevent courts from establishing the truth behind the killings.

The commission also called for the preservation of original death certificates, medical records, and autopsy reports, as well as an investigation into other drug war deaths that may have been similarly documented.

The International Criminal Court will open trial proceedings against Duterte on Nov. 30 for crimes against humanity related to the country’s drug war, which prosecutors allege resulted in thousands of deaths between November 2011 and March 2019. (davaotoday.com)

The Momentum Research survey found 38.8% favored Duterte’s conviction, five percentage points higher than the 33.8% who want her acquitted. Twenty-two percent said they were undecided.

Meanwhile, a PUBLiCUS Asia survey showed 44% of respondents believe the trial will result in conviction, against 31% who expect acquittal. Another 25% were undecided.

Momentum’s survey asked respondents how they would decide on the case regarding the vice president and unexplained wealth allegedly between P817 million to P1 billion.

The research was conducted Oct. 16-19 through interviews with 1,401 persons across the nation, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points. The timing came a few days after the House prosecution finished its presentation of evidence, withdrawing other charges and highlighting the unexplained wealth case.

PUBLiCUS’ survey was conducted Oct. 1-4 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Acceptance of verdict

The Social Weather Station (SWS), in a Sept. 20-27 survey, found 51% of Filipinos agreed the Senate’s verdict should be accepted, whether conviction or acquittal. It found 25% said they would disagree with the verdict and 24% were undecided.

Momentum’s survey also showed 32% said they would respect the decision, against 26% who would oppose it, while 24% were undecided.

These results stand out despite divided opinion over public trust in the Senate to deliver a fair trial.

Both Momentum and SWS surveys show roughly equal percentages of the public having little trust in the Senate: 36% and 35% respectively, compared with those who expressed trust at 32% and 28% respectively.

VP must testify

The surveys show a majority want VP Sara Duterte to testify in the trial. 

SWS found 78% want to see Duterte testify and answer allegations against her on unexplained wealth.

The House prosecution laid out a paper trail of bank transactions and corporate records involving her and her husband, lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, showing unreported income from corporations in which both declared interests. 

Prosecutors note that the vice president maintaining private business interests violates the Constitution.

One of Carpio’s business investments in Cale 88 Foods draws suspicion of money laundering involving millions in transactions from Chinese companies.

Unfazed by surveys

Both the House prosecution and the Senate responded to the surveys, saying negative views on their performance will not hamper their duties.

The SWS survey gave Duterte’s defense lawyers a 47% satisfaction rating and the prosecution 30%.

The prosecution drew a net negative satisfaction rating, with 35% of respondents expressing dissatisfaction over their work.

“Survey metrics measure public sentiment, whereas the Senator-judges are bound by oath to render judgment strictly on the basis of law and admissible evidence,” impeachment court spokesperson lawyer Reginald Tongol said in a statement.

House prosecution spokesperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, 1st District Lanao del Sur, also said the surveys do not determine whether prosecutors are wrong in doing their job.

“This survey, for us, should not give the impression that we are not doing the right thing. The survey may speak of different things,” Adiong said in a House news conference.

The lawmaker thinks perhaps other factors, such as the length of the trial, affected the public’s impression of the proceedings.

The impeachment is on break as the Senate tackles the national budget and will resume Nov. 9 with the defense presenting its side against the charges. (davaotoday.com)

The Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH XI) said it would review findings from a study by University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC) researchers, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified that monitoring ordinary street-vended food falls under local government units’ responsibility.

The exchange during a DOH media engagement on Oct. 30 raised questions about how the agencies coordinate food safety monitoring, particularly when research identifies possible chemical hazards in food sold in public markets.

Dr. Grace Amistoso, DOH XI officer-in-charge assistant regional director, said the department has laboratories that can test food for contaminants such as mercury. 

“We [can] test those foods for mercury content so that we will be able to inform the public,” Amistoso said.

She said the study had only recently circulated online and had not been brought to the department’s attention before the media engagement.

“Currently, it hasn’t been part of our alert. But we will look into that report,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Study detects mercury and lead

The study, titled “Safety evaluation of potential toxic metals exposure from street-vended foods consumed in Davao City, Philippines,” was published June 30, 2026, in the journal Food Science and Preservation. 

Researchers examined 60 samples collected from two high-traffic markets in Davao City: 20 each of isaw, kwek-kwek and siomai.

Mercury levels exceeded the reference value used by the researchers in 80% of isaw samples, 80% of kwek-kwek samples and 90% of siomai samples.

Lead exceeded the study’s reference level in 25% of isaw samples, 30% of kwek-kwek samples and 20% of siomai samples. Cadmium was below the detection limit in all samples.

The researchers also estimated exposure based on assumed daily consumption, finding higher exposure per kilogram of body weight among children than adults.

The study reported chronic hazard index values above 1 for children consuming isaw and siomai, at 1.66 and 2.59, respectively. Kwek-kwek had a value of 0.43. The researchers attributed the higher estimates mainly to mercury exposure.

A hazard index above 1 indicates a potential non-carcinogenic health concern under the assumptions used in the assessment. It does not establish that consumers have become ill or that all servings of these foods pose the same risk.

The findings have limitations. Samples came from only two markets and cannot represent all street food sold across Davao City, and the researchers assumed daily consumption of each food rather than using actual citywide consumption data.

Because specific maximum limits for the prepared street-food categories were unavailable, the study used reference levels from the Codex Alimentarius. These should be understood within the researchers’ methodology and not treated as proof that all sampled products violated a specific local regulatory limit.

Researchers urge to report findings

Amistoso said research findings should be reported to the appropriate government agencies so they can be assessed and used to guide public health measures.

“If this is just confined to your school, the research without notifying us, we cannot tackle it, and we will put people in danger,” Amistoso said.

She added that health-related research could help the department develop policies and identify necessary interventions. DOH XI has an environmental and occupational health program, which Amistoso said covers concerns the department needs to monitor.

FDA points to city health offices

Amistoso also mentioned the FDA’s testing capacity in Tagum City. 

Eba Marie Antonette Inis, FDA Mindanao East Cluster officer-in-charge Director II, clarified that the agency does not routinely test ordinary street-vended food.

“FDA does not test street food because that’s under the purview of the city health office, the local government unit,” Inis said.

She explained that the FDA regulates prepackaged food products with shelf lives and expiration dates. Packaged fish balls sold in supermarkets fall under the agency’s jurisdiction, while fish balls sold by ambulant vendors are handled by local health authorities.

The distinction places direct responsibility for monitoring street food on city and municipal governments.

Under Republic Act 10611, or the Food Safety Act of 2013, local government units are responsible for food safety in street-food sales, including ambulant vending. The law also provides for national government agencies to support local governments in food safety monitoring.

Davao City’s City Health Office conducts sanitary inspections of food establishments and issues sanitary permits. However, the existence of sanitation inspection does not establish whether routine laboratory testing for heavy metals in street-vended food is also being conducted. (davaotoday.com)

In a statement, the NDF-FSMR identified the man as Noel Pamaong, 60, also known by the aliases “Ka Lauro” and “Ka Julio.” The group said Pamaong had been on medical leave and was removed from his New People’s Army unit in 2024 because of his health condition.

Pamaong suffered from hypertension, acute ulcers, rheumatism, chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Because of this condition, he was unarmed when the government forces conducted the operation, the group said.

“Ka Lauro has long been separated from his NPA unit. He was placed under the care of the masses as early as 2024 and has not carried weapons because of his health condition,” the statement said in Cebuano.

The NDF-FSMR also disputed the military’s reported recovery of a .45-caliber pistol and a hand grenade at the scene, accusing soldiers and police of planting the weapons to justify the operation. It denied claims that Pamaong resisted or engaged government forces in a firefight.

The military identified Pamaong as the alleged head of the NPA’s Regional Instructors Bureau. It said he was killed during a joint law enforcement operation in Barangay Silway 8, Polomolok, at about 8:30 p.m.

According to the military, authorities were serving an arrest warrant for Pamaong in multiple attempted homicide cases. 

The warrant, which carried a recommended bail of P120,000, was reportedly issued July 6, 2023, by Regional Trial Court Branch 26 in Surallah, South Cotabato,.

The operation involved personnel from the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade and 603rd Infantry Brigade, in coordination with the South Cotabato Police Provincial Office.

Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the 6th Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Central based at Camp General Gonzalo Siongco in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindnao del Norte, commended the coordination between military and police units and acknowledged residents’ cooperation in supporting peace and security initiatives.

NDF-FSMR said Pamaong was on his way to visit a relative in Polomolok when the incident happened. His companion and driver, Laurence Porras, also known as Biboy, was wounded in the shooting and reportedly in critical condition.

The group said Porras was a civilian who accompanied Pamaong during the trip. It called for an impartial investigation and urged human rights advocates to seek justice for both men.

“The 6th ID’s touted accomplishment of the killing of Ka Lauro, who was hors de combat, and the wounding of a civilian, constitutes clear violations of IHL and the laws of war,” the group said.

Under Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, parties to a non-international armed conflict must treat humanely people taking no active part in hostilities, including those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or other circumstances. Violence against such persons, including murder, is prohibited.

The NDF-FSMR said Pamaong’s death violated international humanitarian law and called for accountability over the operation. (davaotoday.com)