PHL still 3rd deadliest country for journalists — int’l watchdog group

The Philippines once again ranked as the third most deadly country for journalists in the world, based on the report of the international watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Based on the CPJ’s 2014 Global Impunity Index, the Philippines retained its third worst spot on the list, which it has held since 2010. This year, it was just behind Iraq and Somalia.

“Fresh violence and a failure to prosecute old cases kept Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines in the three worst slots on the Index,” said the group.

It explained that the conviction of the gunman who shot broadcaster-environmentalist Gerry Ortega in 2011 was a “welcome development” but that it “did little” to change the “rampant impunity in the Philippines.”

It said more than 50 journalist murders from 2004 to 2013 remain unsolved, which it said was contrary to a 2013 claim by President Benigno Aquino III that impunity doesn’t exist in the Philippines anymore.

Among the victims of the unsolved killings are 32 journalists in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and freelance photographer Mario Sy, who was gunned down last year.

According to the CPJ, its Global Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist killings as to the percentage of a country’s population. It said there are 0.527 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants in the Philippines.

The group said cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained and that only countries with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index.

For 2014, 13 countries met the Index criteria, compared with 12 in 2013. The full list is as follows:

1. Iraq
2. Somalia
3. Philippines
4. Sri Lanka
5. Syria
6. Afghanistan
7. Mexico
8. Colombia
9. Pakistan
10. Russia
11. Brazil
12. Nigeria
13. India

The CPJ said 10 of the 13 countries on the Index have been listed each year since it began the annual analysis in 2008.

The ranking came at the heels of the murder of Cavite journalist Rubie Garcia earlier this month.

According to international group Human Rights Watch, Garcia is the 26th victim of media killing since President Benigno Aquino III took office

Just last February, the Philippines also ranked third on the London-based International News Safety Institute’s list of most dangerous countries for journalists. — LBG, GMA News