Outrage as two more broadcasters murdered

The murders of two journalists triggered a fresh wave of outrage yesterday over a relentless assault on media practitioners in the country, which is now known as the second most dangerous place worldwide for the media, given the many killings of journalists.

The two broadcast journalists, killed in separate attacks at opposite ends of the country within the space of 24 hours, were both outspoken radio broadcasters known for their criticism of corrupt local officials.

Police said they did not know who was behind the murders, but media groups said the crimes appeared to follow a typical pattern in the Philippines in which journalists are killed to silence them.

The perpetrators, oftenly believed to be corrupt politicians who have their own security forces, are rarely caught or punished.

“Unless this culture ends, the government will never be able to stop the killings,” National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) vice chairman Nonoy Espina told Agence France Presse.

Desidario Camangyan, 52, became this week’s first victim when he was shot dead by a lone gunman who walked on stage as the victim hosted a village singing contest in the southern Philippines on Monday night.

The following evening in the north of the country, Lito Agustin, 37, was ambushed and shot dead as he rode a motorcycle home.

Camangyan was well known for speaking out over the airwaves against illegal logging and mining, while Agustin had similarly been very vocal in trying to expose corruption in his hometown.

The National Press Club, for its part, denounced the latest successive violent assaults against the press, killing two journalists in two far places within 24 hours to cap the legacy of the administration of President Arroyo as the worst ever in terms of protection and respect for the liberty of the press.

The NPC also urged President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to declare media killings a top national security concern and form a special task force in his administration to combat in the most decisive manner the killings of journalists.

“Unless there is massive investigation, prosecution, trial and conviction of suspected brains and slayers in media killings, the journalists will remain the targets of assassination by reason of the nature of their work,” an NPC statement read.

As a temporary remedial measure, the NPC is urging the Philippine National Police (PNP) to relieve outright the chief of police and the provincial or city police directors every time a murder of a journalist occurs in their area of responsibility.

In the case of Camangyan and Agustin, the provincial police directors of Davao Oriental and Ilocos Norte must be axed outright, the NPC statement said.

Malacañang, though Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza, told a press briefing that the security forces of the government treat every reported crime-related incident on a case-to-case basis while extending greater efforts to “protect” people who are in the field of print and broadcast media.

“Sometimes we really just can’t avoid these things from happening but we, in the government, have always been cooperative on the issue of protection particularly to our media practitioners,” Mendoza stressed.

Most of the media killings reportedly happened during the nine-year reign of President Arroyo including the 34 journalists who were killed Nov. 23 last year in Ampatuan, Maguindanao which was recorded as the most gruesome attack meted out against the members of the press.

Senators yesterday expressed alarm over the new spate of killings of journalists, underscoring the need to strengthen the justice system in the country.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. scoffed at Malacañang over these incidents, noting that the unresolved killings of journalists continue to hound the administration of Arroyo even in her last days in office.

“During GMA’s administration, about 100 journalists were killed. With 11 days to go, two more were killed. Where’s press freedom, GMA ?” he asked.

Pimentel, along with Senators Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda and Francis Pangilinan expressed concern over the reported killings of the two radio anchors.

“These killings should stop and the police must solve these cases as soon as possible. We cannot be a country that disregards the rights of mediamen,” Legarda said.

Cayetano also condemned the latest media killings and joined media organizations in denouncing these incidents.

“The brazen slaying of journalists, as underscored by the Maguindanao Massacre last year, as well as other forms of violations of press freedom, count among the darkest ‘legacies’ of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo’s nine-year rule.

“The government’s indifference to the state of Philippine media was even affirmed recently by the unceremonious ‘killing’ of the Freedom of Information Bill by Mrs. Arroyo’s allies in the closing session of the House. I am hopeful that the incoming administration would make it a priority to decisively address this climate of impunity and to deliver justice long denied the victims and families of unsolved media slayings,” she said.

For his part, Pangilinan said these killings underscore the urgent and pressing need to strengthen the country’s system of justice and instill both a fear and respect for the rule of law.

In a related development, local police authorities are now conducting a deeper probe to determine the motive behind the killing of the broadcaster in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte on Tuesday night.

Based on investigation, Agustin was on board a motorcycle with his nephew, Joseph, when they were fired upon by 2 motorcycle-riding gunmen along the national highway in Barangay Barit at around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The two victims were immediately rushed to hospital. Agustin died at 1:15 a.m.

Investigation reports claimed that Agustin sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the body while his nephew sustained a single gunshot wound.

Local police investigators are looking into angles since unidentified gunmen fired at Agustin’s house in Bgy., Natba, Bacarra town only last month.

Agustin however survived the first attack.

Media particularly those who based in Ilocos Norte condemned the latest journalists’ killings.

Agustin is the 3rd radio commentator of dzJC Aksyon Radyo Laoag to be killed since 2004.

Radio journalists Roger Mariano and Andy Acosta were slain in 2004 and 2008, respectively.

It can be recalled that a lone gunman shot dead on Monday Camangyan, who was gunned down by a lone gunman in Manay town, Davao Oriental as he was on the stage judging a singing contest in Bgy., Old Macopa, Manay town at around 10:30 p.m.

A culture of impunity is to blame for the violence, which targets judges, prosecutors and dissidents as well as journalists, said Luis Teodoro, a director with local media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

“The conditions which make these killings possible must be removed,” he told AFP.

“That means you are going to have to punish the guilty and show that the justice system works. You must show that one cannot just kill anybody and get away with it.”

Teodoro said only three murders of journalists had been resolved — meaning at least some of the suspects convicted and jailed — since his group began monitoring media killings in 1992.

Arroyo has been criticized for not doing enough to change the culture of impunity, and 105 of the journalist deaths in the post-Marcos era have occurred since she came to power in 2001.

Last year was especially bloody with 33 journalists murdered, most of them in a massacre that left a total of 57 people dead in the south in November.

Members of a Muslim clan that ruled the southern province of Maguindanao who were then close allies of Arroyo have been charged with murder over the massacre.

International media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists rates the Philippines third, behind Iraq and Somalia, in its “Global Impunity Index” in which killers of journalists literally get away with murder.

The NUJP’s Espina urged Noynoy Aquino, who will take over from Arroyo on June 30, to make addressing the high murder rate of journalists one of his top priorities.

“We don’t expect this (Arroyo) administration to lift a finger, but these (latest murders) should be seen as a personal challenge by Noynoy in light of his campaign promise to look into the media killings,” Espina said. With Aytch S. dela Cruz, Angie Rosales, Gina Elorde and AFP