The Philippines lost one of its main press freedom fighters on Wednesday evening. Jose Jaime Espina, better known as “Nonoy”, deceased of liver cancer just days after recovering from Covid-19, his family said. He was 59 years old.
A longtime journalist based primarily in the central Philippine region of Negros, Espina served as president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) from 2018 to 2021. During this period, President Rodrigo Duterte carried out a scathing attack on the media, leading to the December 2020 decision ABS-CBN shutdown, the country’s largest broadcast network, and the persecution of Maria Ressa and her investigative news agency Rappler. Espina and her colleagues from the NUJP, supported by strong solidarity from the media and human rights organizations, were at the forefront of the struggle to defend the press.
the Philippine authorities on several occasions “Marked in red” Espina and other members of the NUJP, accusing them of supporting the Communist insurgency. This harassment has added to the threats faced by Filipino journalists, many of whom were killed in targeted attacks. The Philippines are one of the most dangerous places in the world to work as a journalist. When I was a Filipino journalist for the New York Times, the army included me in its List of results “order of battle” due to my association with the NUJP, where I was also general secretary. Espina was always there to support me and denounce the blacklist.
Espina worked mainly as community journalist based in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, his hometown. He had been a reporter and editor of various provincial and national publications, but his work as a member of the Association of the Philippines “Alternative press” – journalists who dared to report human rights violations and contested the official version of events – this is what earned him his reputation and recognition. He also pleaded for the economic promotion of journalists, even when joining a working case against a media company.
Espina is survived by his wife, Leny Rojo, children Mayumi Liwayway and Daki Ojor, and a generation of Filipino journalists who continue to cope huge challenges but were inspired by Nonoy’s leadership and commitment to a free and independent press.
“The press is free not because it is allowed to be free,” Espina once said. “It’s free because he insists on being free.”
