More than a hundred student journalists and press freedom advocates held a protest and candlelight vigil at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman on August 13 to condemn the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif and other media workers in Gaza.
Organized by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), the country’s oldest alliance of student publications, the event denounced what the group called a “grave attack on press freedom” amid Israel’s ongoing military offensives in the territory.
In a statement, the CEGP condemned the targeted Israeli airstrike that killed Al-Sharif and six other journalists, calling it part of a broader pattern of impunity and violence against media workers.
Israel had labelled Al-Sharif a member of Hamas, a claim it has also frequently made against aid workers and civilians.
“One death is too many,” CEGP said. “Impunity must not be condoned, and those who wage war to kill the truth must be held accountable.”
CEGP said the tactics used by the Israel Defense Forces — including surveillance, the labeling of journalists as terrorists, and targeted attacks — mirror those used against Filipino journalists and human rights defenders who expose corruption and state abuses.
“The same culture of impunity exists here in the Philippines,” the group said, citing ongoing cases of harassment, censorship, and violence targeting both campus and professional journalists.
The group also voiced alarm over increasing military cooperation between the Philippines and Israel, criticizing recent defense agreements during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.
Mr. Marcos recently expressed ‘grave concern’ over Israel’s military operations in Gaza, but Israel has been a major supplier of equipment — including artillery, armored personnel carriers and patrol boats — for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Journalist and press groups in the Philippines, including the AlterMidya network, Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and Photojournalists Center of the Philippines, have also issued statements condemning the killings.
“Journalists on the ground are risking their lives to bring the truth of genocide to the world,” the UP Department of Broadcast Communication said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This is yet another blatant attack on press freedom and truth-telling. An attack on journalists is an attack on the truth,” it also said.
