As we mark 48 years since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law, the country’s journalists remind us that the threats posed by the Marcos regime are the same ones we continue to face today.
On Sept. 21, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) launched the Masked Media campaign, which advocates for “a free press for a free people” by raising money for a journalist defense fund.
The campaign was launched in time for the 48th anniversary of Martial Law as a reminder of the atrocities committed during the Marcos regime and how our press freedom is constantly threatened by the current administration.
[READ: ABS-CBN’s shutdown has everything to do with press freedom]
“We remember the past not in defeat or resignation, but in the spirit of those who defied the dictator, from the clandestine mosquito press, to the alternative media of the time,” their statement reads.
“And as we do so, we honor the people whose thirst for the truth they served and who, in turn, helped protect them; the people who would, in the end, rise up and throw off the shackles of tyranny.”
The campaign will be raising funds by selling “Masked Media” cloth masks, which are priced at P150 and are available through Shopee and Lazada. All proceeds will go towards the Defense Fund for Filipino Journalists.
The Masked Media cloth masks are out of stock as of writing, but donations can still be coursed through NUJP’s Metrobank account. (Account Name: National Union of Journalists of the Philippines; Account Number: 229-7-229-50757-1)
Header photo screengrabbed from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines livestream
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