PUBLISHING the truth and revealing war crimes, atrocities, murders, and crimes against women and children and rights advocates are part of the onerous and sometimes dangerous work of people in the media, such as writers, publishers, editors and photographers. Many journalists are courageous, with some paying the ultimate price for revealing the truth about corruption and serious wrongdoing by the police, military, politicians and businessmen. There is often retribution for those with the courage to expose evil.

It is reported that 45 journalists around the world were murdered in 2023 alone. The worst was in 2012 when 147 writers and journalists were killed. In 2022, four journalists were murdered in the Philippines. This brings to 140 the number of Filipino journalists killed between 2000 and 2022. Clearly, the Philippines is one of the most dangerous places to be a writer or journalist.