Two presidential candidates have vowed to prioritize the resolution of cases of media killings in the country, which has been tagged as the second most dangerous place in the world for journalists with 146 deaths in the past 25 years.
“Violence against the media has no place in a Binay presidency. Press freedom must be respected and prioritized by the government and only a decisive leadership can end this culture of impunity in our country,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, for his part, called for greater protection for media workers, adding that many of them “work under dangerous and even deadly conditions.”
“The state must protect the media. In a democracy, the role of media is very important. In the absence of a credible opposition party, you can rely on the media,” Duterte said.
Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, however, took a swipe at the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group associated with Duterte.
UNA spokesman Mon Ilagan said of the 146 journalists killed in the past 25 years, three were allegedly murdered by the DDS, namely Jun Pala, Ferdie Lintuan and Rene Galope.
“We must put a stop to this culture of impunity. We likewise cry for justice for victims of political violence who were unjustly threatened, harassed, intimidated and killed in this senseless act of political hatred and greed,” Ilagan said.
“A leadership that shies away from these issues and downplays the murder of our journalists as not work-related is unacceptable. Likewise, a leadership that supports such atrocities is no leadership at all,” he added.
For his part, Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said the mayor, who has never filed a libel case against journalists, will put up special courts and prosecution panels to handle cases of media killings and offer rewards and incentives for the immediate arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the killers and their masterminds.
Duterte said police investigators and prosecutors who fail to resolve these cases quickly “might as well look for another job.”
In February, broadcaster Elvis Ordaniza was shot dead inside his home in Pitogo town in Zamboanga del Sur.
Data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines showed that Ordaniza is the 171st journalist to be murdered since 1986 and the 31st under the Aquino administration.