Referring to the extrajudicial killings that were so much a part of the past Arroyo administration, and the killing of journalists that spiked on November 23, 2009, President Benigno Aquino III declared in his 2010 State of the Nation Address (SONA) that his administration would “hold murderers accountable.”

Despite that pledge, six journalists have been killed since then, or a total of ten since the Ampatuan Massacre of November 23, 2009 which claimed the lives of 58 men and women, of whom 32 were journalists and media workers. Dozens of human rights workers, political activists, labor leaders and others have also been abducted, tortured and killed during the same period.

Alert
December 24, 2007

Murder of Davao broadcaster is fifth media killing this year

Fernando “Batman” Lintuan, the first president of the Davao Sportswriters Association and broadcaster of DXGO Aksyon Radyo, was gunned down at close range at around 10 am this morning in front of the station.

His death brought to five the number of journalists killed in 2007 and to 54 the number of journalists killed under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Reports from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Davao Chapter stated that a gunman riding on a motorcycle shot Lintuan while on board a car, about to leave the station. Lintuan was hit in the head.

Two other broadcasters, Louie Ceniza and Edgar Banzon were with him in the car. It is unknown if the two were hurt in the incident.

Lintuan is the fifth Davao journalist to be killed since 1986. Broadcaster Jun Porras Pala was killed Sept. 6, 2003, while Narciso Balani, Rogie Zagado and Leo Palo were all killed on August 27, 1987. All were with dxRA Aksyon Radyo. Davao photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag, on the other hand, was in assignment in Jolo, Sulu when shot on November 12, 2004.

The other journalists killed this year were Hernani Pastolero (Sultan Kudarat), Carmelito Palacios (Nueva Ecija), Dodie Nunez (Cavite) and Vicente Sumalpong (Tawi-Tawi).

Lintuan left behind four children.

(IFJ-NUJP Media Safety Office)

The Glorietta bombing, the bribery in Malacañang, the bishops’ call for her resignation, the ZTE broadband deal, and the Estrada pardon were among the recent issues touched by the article. It also mentioned the Hello Garci controversy to substantiate its statement that almost since Arroyo became president, “her administration has been buffeted by allegations of corruption every bit as audacious as Estrada’s.”

The article also quoted fellow blogger and Inquirer columnist Manolo Quezon as saying Arroyo may be able to finish her term due to people’s apathy.

Read the article here: “Crisis — Again — for the Philippines’ Arroyo”

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines welcomed the development, saying a contrary decision would have been against the constitutional right of access to information.

The coverage the Supreme Court granted is still very limited but in responding favorably to the petition, it upheld the right of the people to information on such an important and historic issue and ensured the timely and speedy delivery of the information.

As in the issues of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, the High Court once again showed independence and adherence to our fundamental rights and liberties.

“At the very least, we ask the anti-graft court to allow pooled coverage of the proceedings,” the NUJP said in a statement.While recognizing the need for justice, the NUJP said it is also important to consider the interests of transparency and the people’s right to know.

“It would be an injustice if the people are deprived of the full details of such an historic occasion, whose outcome will definitely have a major impact on our national life,” NUJP added.

Anti-Malu Fernandez sentiments filled the Philippine blogosphere the past few weeks as a reaction to her controversial column “From Boracay to Greece” where she wrote that she “wanted to slash [her] wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them,” referring to the OFWs in Dubai.

The Filipino Press Club-Dubai, group of Filipino professional journalists from the print, broadcast and web-based media in the United Arab Emirates, has also issued a statement calling for an apology and disciplinary action against Fernandez.

“We strongly demand that the publishers of People Asia and Manila Standard Today to take full responsibility and do the right thing: give Ms Fernandez and her editors a disciplinary action and apologise to the people insulted by these articles,” the group said.

The official website of People Asia also reported that their September issue will carry Fernandez’s statement in lieu of her column.

Some bloggers earlier linked to Fernandez’s supposed statement, which was posted in Geocities.com. Below is the full text of what appears to be Fernandez’s statement:

Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW Controversy

I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled ‘From Boracay to Greece!’ which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia. To say that this article was not meant to malign, hurt or express prejudice against the OFWs now sounds hollow after reading through all the blogs from Filipinos all over the world. I am deeply apologetic for my insensitivity and the offensive manner in which this article was written, I hear you all and I am properly rebuked. It was truly not my intention to malign hurt or express prejudice against OFWs.

As the recent recipient and target of death threats, hate blogs, and deeply personal insults, I now truly understand the insidiousness of discrimination and prejudice disguised as humor. Our society is bound together by human chains of kindness and decency. I have failed to observe this and I am now reaping the consequences of my actions. It is my fervent hope that the lessons that Ive learned are not lost on all those who through anonymous blogs, engaged in bigotry, discrimination, and hatred ( against overweight individuals , for example )

I take full responsibility for my actions and my friends and family have nothing to do with this. To date I have submitted my resignation letters to both the Manila Standard and People Asia, on that note may this matter be laid to rest.

The media organization issued the statement after Arroyo invited executives of several media outfits to Malacañang to solicit their help for the last three years of her administration, during which she hopes to build her “legacy.”

“We would like to remind Ms. Arroyo that media’s role – nay, duty – is to report events, good or bad, as they happen and not to spin the news to suit anyone’s agenda, much less conform to anyone’s concept of what balanced reporting, balanced commentary and editorial focus should be,” the NUJP said.

During the meeting, Arroyo reportedly said the media can help the government “by balanced reporting based on verified facts, constructive commentary on public issues, and editorial focus on news that matters to the lives and livelihood of ordinary Filipinos.”

While saying there is nothing wrong with seeking media’s help in pursuing a better future for the nation, the NUJP said there is “something amiss” in the president’s attempt “to suggest how media should choose, present and deliver the news.”

“Our sole responsibility is to the people, and their right to free access to the information they need to decide how to shape their future as individuals and as a nation,” the statement added.

The NUJP also recalled the Arroyo administration’s repeated attempt to suppress information and attempts to muzzle the media. It also complained that the administration tended to blame the journalists when reportage does not conform to the image Arroyo and her people wish to project.

The NUJP also brought up in its statement the killing of journalists: “Neither has Ms. Arroyo acted decisively to stem the most extreme form of censorship – the murder of journalists – that has claimed the lives of 52 since she came to power, the highest tally under any sitting president. And she has three more years to go.”

Their advice to Arroyo: “All she has to do is exercise genuine good governance and be transparent. Whether she does so or not, the media will do its part, as always, by performing its duty of reporting events as they happen.”

According to IFJ affiliate the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Palacios was found dead in St. Rosa town, Nueva Ecija province on April 17.

A field reporter for government-run Radyo ng Bayan, Palacios’ body was badly battered and he had been shot in the chin.

“This appalling murder, the 51st journalist murdered during Arroyo’s regime, is yet another tragic result of inaction from the Philippines government,” IFJ President Christopher Warren said.

“As the death toll continues to climb, when will Arroyo take the action desperately needed by her people, and put an end this senseless bloodshed?” Warren said.

Geary Barias, Director of Task Force Usig, an investigative unit probing killings of activists in the Philippines, believes Palacios’ hard hitting journalism and anti-crime crusading were the likely motivations for his murder, says the NUJP.

“It is disgraceful enough that journalists in the Philippines are systematically killed for simply doing their job, but the culture of impunity that has developed under Arroyo has seen these journalists’ killers walk free,” Warren said.

Radio program host, Philippine Daily Inquirer journalist and Ang Dyaryo Natin editor Delfin Mallari Jr was also shot and wounded in an ambush in Lucena City on April 18, just one day after Palacios’ murder.

Mallari’s cohost Johnny Glorioso of dzMM, who was also in the vehicle when it was ambushed but was unhurt, reportedly said there was reason to believe the attempted murder was politically motivated. Glorioso and Mallari were officers of the local NUJP chapter.

The IFJ, the organisation representing more than 500,000 journalists in over 115 countries, calls for a full investigation into the attack on Glorioso and Mallari, and for protections to be put in place to ensure another attack such as this does not occur.

“The Philippines government has allowed the situation to go on long enough. The culture of impunity must be dismantled, and Arroyo must make genuine guarantees to protect the safety and security of all media personnel,” Warren said.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific +61 2 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 115 countries

Press Statement
18 April 2007

The Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom (AZCPF) strongly condemns the recent attacks on media people and journalists. The assassins want to prevent the media from bringing to the public the true state of the nation and the criminal activities being committed by those in power.

*Carmelo Palacios, 41, a field reporter of Radyo ng Bayan, was found dead in Sta. Rosa town, Nueva Ecija, April 18. He is the 51st journalist to be killed under the Arroyo administration’s increasingly blood-drenched watch, and the third this year.

*A day after, Delfin Mallari Jr., correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the host of a local radio program and editor of the local paper Ang Dyaryo Natin, was shot and wounded in an ambush in Lucena City.

*In Cebu City, Leo Lastimosa, station manager of the local ABS-CBN radio, was slapped with a libel suit by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia because of his exposes on alleged scams committed during the preparations for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations there.

The continuing attacks on media people and journalists can only be linked to the unabated attacks on militants and activists that are clearly politically-motivated.

Several prestigious international bodies, including the recent Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) have already pointed to the armed elements of the Arroyo regime as being responsible for these attacks, and have held the regime accountable for these crimes.

The Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom joins the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines and other media organizations in defending press freedom. Bullets and libel suits will not stop the good men and women of the media from their commitment to bring the truth to the people.

This week marks another dark period for press freedom in the Philippines, with the murder of a colleague, the attempted murder of another and a libel case filed by a governor against yet another.

Carmelo Palacios, 41, field reporter of the government-run Radyo ng Bayan, was found dead in Sta. Rosa town, Nueva Ecija, Wednesday morning, his body battered and shot in the chin. He was the 51st journalist to be killed under the Arroyo administration’s increasingly blood-drenched watch, and the third this year.

Director Geary Barias of Task Force Usig has said there is reason to believe the murder of Palacios was an offshoot of his being a “hard-hitting, no nonsense reporter” and “anti-crime crusader.”

A day after, Delfin Mallari Jr., correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the host of a local radio program and editor of the local paper Ang Dyaryo Natin, was shot and wounded in an ambush in Lucena City.

Colleague Johnny Glorioso of dzMM and Mallari’s co-host and fellow editor, said they have all the reason to believe the attempt on Mallari’s life was “politically motivated.”

In Cebu City, Leo Lastimosa, station manager of local ABS-CBN radio, was slapped with a libel suit by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia because of his exposes on alleged scams committed during the preparations for the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations there.

And in Albay, dzRH reporter Jun Alegre was arrested yesterday and jailed over a 10-year-old libel case.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemns these latest assaults on our colleagues and on press freedom as a whole.

Indeed, the assaults on journalists and not just press freedom but freedom of expression and the people’s right to know as well, have been coming more often and becoming more brazen.

In the case of media, while there remains no indication that this is part of a broad, concerted effort, unlike the assaults on other sectors, the fact nevertheless remains that the continued assaults on
our colleagues and on our freedom and liberties are abetted by a climate of impunity that is the result of official inaction, antipathy and, in many cases, even outright hostility.

This is borne out by last year’s attempts by government to clamp down on the media during the ill-conceived state of national emergency, the multiple libel cases filed against 46 journalists by no less than the president’s husband, the sedition charges filed against the Tribune and the comments from sundry government and security officials, notably Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, that a number of our slain colleagues may have deserved their fates — as if there were any justification for murder.

Again, as we mourn our fallen, see to our wounded and give succor to the embattled, we challenge President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to do the one singular act that will prove that her administration is not abetting this climate of impunity that is steadily and with gathering speed and brazenness battering at our most basic rights and liberties — issue a categorical order to put an end to the killings and assaults, to get the perpetrators, and declare the decriminalization of libel an urgent measure.

We urge our colleagues to remain steadfast and band together and call on the people whom we serve to help send a strong signal to those who would deprive them of their right to know that, no, we will not surrender.

References:

Jose Torres Jr., NUJP chairperson
Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary-general

This press statement released on March 20 (Tuesday) was signed by 18 faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) led by Dean
Elena Pernia. For verification, please call the UP CMC Department of Journalism at 920-6852.

The undersigned faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) condemn in the strongest possible terms the filing of multiple murder charges against Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo which resulted in his arrest and detention last March 16.

That the charges were filed during the election season is already questionable, especially since
Ocampo’s Bayan Muna Partylist group is running for representation in the House of Representatives and has been repeatedly accused by the powers-that-be as a communist front. The situation is preposterous as the crimes he allegedly committed happened more than
two decades ago while he was in detention.

The authorities even had the audacity to push for his transfer to Hilongos, Leyte — where the case against him was filed — despite the scheduled oral arguments before the Supreme Court on
March 23. If Rep. Ocampo can be denied due process, what kind of treatment can others similarly accused expect from this government?

Rep. Ocampo’s wife, Prof. Carolina Malay, was a faculty member of the UP CMC Department of Journalism from 1992 to 2000, during the last five years of which she was department chair. We
admired Prof. Malay then for her dedication to the teaching and journalism profession, and we commend her at this point for her strength and unwavering resolve to fight for truth
and justice. We join her in her struggle to uphold and protect our basic freedom.

We call on the authorities to stop harassing Ocampo and his co-accused and to respect their basic rights. An administration that claims to be both legitimate and serving the interest of
the people is expected to do no less.

Dr. Elena E. Pernia, dean
Dr. Lourdes Portus, college secretary
Dr. Arminda Santiago, chair, graduate studies
Prof. Fernando Austria, chair, broadcast communication department
Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, professor, Film Institute
Dr. Georgina R. Encanto, professor, journalism department
Prof. Luis V. Teodoro, professor, journalism department
Dr. Jose R. Lacson, professor, communication research department
Dr. Roland Tolentino, professor, Film Institute
Dr. Perlita Manalili, associate professor, broadcast communication department
Prof. Danilo A. Arao, assistant professor, journalism department
Prof. Marichu C. Lambino, assistant professor, journalism department
Prof. Yvonne T. Chua, assistant professor, journalism department
Prof. Ma. Cristina I. Rara, assistant professor, journalism department
Prof. Violeda A. Umali, assistant professor, communication research department
Prof. Jane Vinculado, assistant professor, broadcast communication department
Prof. Shirley P. Evidente, assistant professor, broadcast communication department
Prof. Andres Sevilla, lecturer, communication research department

It was 2:45 this morning, according to guards of nearby buildings, when a speeding motorcycle slowed down in front of the dxCC radio station in Cagayan de Oro City and the lone rider threw a Molotov bomb at the station.

Reports received by NUJP said the bomb landed and exploded on the station’s L-300 van which destroyed the van beyond recognition. It also set the station’s signboard on fire and damaged the station manager’s car parked beside the van and a motorcycle owned by a guard.

No one was reported hurt in the incident and firefighters quickly put out the fire. Police reportedly found glass and other fragments which indicated that a homemade molotov bomb was used.

Witnesses said the perpetrator was riding an XTRM motorcycle with no plate number. Only the news director, who was preparing for the early morning broadcast, and a guard were in the station at the time.

The Radio Mindanao Network runs dxCC. Eleazar Saludar, station manager of RMN’s Manila-based station dzXL, was quoted in media reports as saying they have no suspect as of this writing and the station is investigating what group is responsible for the incident. (IFJ-NUJP Media Safety Office)

The journalists’ organization reported that Wapile surrendered yesterday to the Philippine National Police in Region 9 and was presented to the media today.

“The NUJP hopes that this development can help the police in redeeming its name, which had been sullied not only by its failure to arrest Wapile since the May 2002 murder but also by the incompetence of some its officers who allowed the suspect to escape from jail,” it said in a statement.

The group also called on the PNP is to ensure the protection of two eyewitnesses and the family of Damalerio and appealed to the Department of Justice not to grant Wapile’s reported request for bail so as not to “perpetuate the fear being faced by the witnesses and family of Damalerio.”

The Damalerio murder is is just one of the more than 55 cases of journalists killed since 1986 that remains unsolved.

“We wish we could say that Wapile’s surrender will break the culture of impunity that allows the series of murders of Filipino journalists to take place. And unless the killer and mastermind/s behind the Damalerio murder are tried and convicted,
justice will remain elusive,” the NUJP said.

He wrote that Jonathan “Jun” Abayon, 27, a reporter of RGMA Superadyo in that city, is in critical condition after he was shot in the head early this morning, allegedly by a bodyguard of Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

Superadyo station manager, Cris Guarin, said the victim had been drinking with the suspect, William Pael, the night before. Abayon was on his way home when he was shot near the home of Pacquiao in barangay Labangon, General Santos City, Guarin said.

Guarin said Abayon was just a field reporter, not a commentator. “I am not aware that he made enemies because of his job,” he said in a telephone interview from General Santos. He said a witness had seen the shooting. The police are still investigating while the suspect is still at large.

Guarin was not inclined to declare the shooting as job-related. “Let’s just wait for the complete police investigation,” he said. He said Abayon had been with RGMA Superadyo “for years”; he described the reporter as “okay.”

Abayon is the sixth Philippine journalist attacked within the past eight
days.

Last Saturday, Roger Mariano, a DZJC-Akyson radio anchor in Laoag was shot dead while on his way home. Yesterday, Arnel Manalo, Batangas correspondent of Bulgar tabloid and the radio station DZRH, suffered the same fate.

“The one factor visibly missing in the Philippines is public indignation widespread and compelling enough to make it politically advantageous for the Philippine government to rigorously go after the killers,” writes Philippine Journalism Review editor Luis Teodoro.

In stressing the need for Filipino journalists to deserve the public�s protection,” he quoted an statement by the International Freedom of Expression Exchange: �We urge journalists across the Philippines to be vigilant and to close ranks to protect themselves against (attacks and assassinations) by arming themselves with the truth and a high level of professionalism in carrying out their work. Unless they are so armed, and thus indispensable to their communities, journalists will continue to be killed in this country, with very few caring enough to want the killings to stop.�

The National Union of Journalists (NUJP), strongly condemned the killing. “Perhaps because the perpetrators have been able to get away with it, the attacks against journalists continue,” it said in a statement.

NUJP also listed a series of attacks on journalists this year:

• February 11 – Ruel Endrinal of DZRC in Legazpi City was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen.
• February 13 – Modesto Gutierrez, a radio commentator of DWSI in Santiago City, Isabela, survived a grenade attack.
• June 8 – Cirse “Choy” Torralba of Angel Radio in Cebu City was injured in an ambush.