Labeled for Death?

For contradicting the military�s propaganda against the New People�s Army, a hard-hitting Kidapawan journalist is being vilified by the army as a communist, thus putting her life in grave danger.

By Carlos H . Conde
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY � Malu Manar is no stranger to death threats. As a journalist who works and lives in Central Mindanao, where rebels, bandits and warlords are aplenty, she is bound to step on some toes every once in a while.

She had worked for the Catholic-ran DXND in Cotabato City since the early 1990s but moved to a sister radio station in Kidapawan City a few years ago after her family received death threats. She had been very critical of some local officials in her radio program and she believed that had something to do with the threats.

�When some men went looking for my two daughters at their school, that was it,” Manar told Reuters last year. At one point, she started disguising herself, wearing a wig and sunglasses to avoid the people stalking her.

“It was difficult and painful. It was a traumatic experience for my family. Even now, I have not really lowered my guard. I still play hide-and-seek,” she said.

But all the years she spent on the frontlines of Mindanao — reporting for DXND and filing dispatches for such newspapers as Manila Times, Today, Manila Bulletin and the online news site MindaNews � didn�t prepare her for what happened one day in May.

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4 Comments to “Labeled for Death?”

1. anmae says:

   June 13, 2006 at 10:47 pm

   the military are always like that. i am really afraid this country will be dumped because even its peacekeeping bodies go against our major principle which is democracy. how sad.
2. bhie says:

   June 21, 2006 at 9:53 am

   once a journalists contradicts the press releases of military people/government, they tagged them as communists.. kahit n ang gngwa lng ng mga journalists is to air/write the side of the marginalized people and probe to something nilalagay k n nila s listahn ng mga kaaway nila…

   pero i salute those jouranlists lyk u, who despite of death threats continues to serve the poeple by wrting the truth about certain issues etc.
3. Angel says:

   June 24, 2006 at 8:55 pm

   God has a purpose for everything. I know and I believe time will come that our country will progress. Saludo po ako sa inyong mga journalists na tapat sa trabaho at kahit na may mga death threats patuloy pa rin sa pagbibigay ng tamang balita at kaalaman sa mga tao. Nawa’y marami pang journalists ang maging matapang sa paglalahad ng katotohanan. Even though life na ang maging kapalit ng kanilang paglalahad ng katotohanan sana’y maisip po ng ibang mga journalists na takot magsalita ng mas magiging worth it ang buhay nila king gagamitin sa mabuting paraan. Lahat nakikita ng Panginoon. Bagama’t magulo ang pamamalakad ngayon sa gobyerno at maraming patayang nangyayari, I have my faith that God is still in control. He pronised us that He will never LEAVE us nor FORSAKE us. Maging mapanalangin lang ang bawat isa sa atin.
4. angel says:

   June 24, 2006 at 8:58 pm

   cerGod has a purpose for everything. I know and I believe time will come that our country will progress. Saludo po ako sa inyong mga journalists na tapat sa trabaho at kahit na may mga death threats patuloy pa rin sa pagbibigay ng tamang balita at kaalaman sa mga tao. Nawa’y marami pang journalists ang maging matapang sa paglalahad ng katotohanan. Even though life na ang maging kapalit ng kanilang paglalahad ng katotohanan sana’y maisip po ng ibang mga journalists na takot magsalita na mas magiging worth it ang buhay nila kung gagamitin sa mabuting paraan. Lahat nakikita ng Panginoon. Bagama’t magulo ang pamamalakad ngayon sa gobyerno at maraming patayang nangyayari, I have my faith that God is still in control. He promised us that He will never LEAVE us nor FORSAKE us. Maging mapanalangin lang ang bawat isa sa atin.