PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—A top official of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday denounced the killing of a Zamboanga del Sur-based broadcast journalist who has been critical of the proliferation of illegal drugs and gambling.
“I condemn the killing of Elvis Ordaniza,” said Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova in a statement sent to The Standard.
“Journalists must be able to carry out their work in reasonably safe conditions, which is why I urge the authorities to spare no effort in bringing its perpetrators to justice.”
The 49-year-old Ordaniza, who ran a public affairs program from Pagadian radio station dxWO Power 99 FM was the first journalist in the country to be murdered this year by still unidentified gunmen who used a caliber .45 pistol.
Ordaniza was taken immediately to the nearby hospital by responding policemen but was pronounced dead on the way there.
Local police here have formed “Task Force Ordaniza” to conduct a thorough investigation and determine the possible motive behind the killing and to identify the assailant.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines slammed the Aquino administration’s marked hostility towards media and its repeated failures to stop media killings.
“It has not helped that our leaders have often helped feed the blood lust through their apathy or, as President Benigno Aquino III has so often displayed, open hostility towards media whose view about the government is markedly different from his,” Ryan Rosauro, NUJP chairman, said.
“We condemn yet another colleague’s murder and demand that authorities fulfill their duty of giving him justice.”
“Whatever the reason for Ordaniza’s murder, one thing remains constant—it is government’s continued failure to prevent such killings and solve past cases [only a handful of killers have ever been convicted, none of them a mastermind] that emboldens those who would silence critical media,” he added.
Rosauro said that it is unfortunate that “in such far-flung towns, where accountability exists the least and where disagreements can turn intensely personal… journalists face the most risks.”
The NUJP said journalists were in even greater peril during an election year.
“We urge all candidates, political parties and the Commission on Elections [Comelec] to help safeguard press freedom throughout the campaign period, the Election Day, and up until winners are proclaimed, and eventually sworn into office.
“We call on all our colleagues to remain committed to our duty of informing our audiences about the state of our communities and our nations as best we can. At the same time, we urge everyone, especially in this election year, to be mindful of each other’s safety, to promptly report all threats and other potential risks, and to uphold professional and ethical standards.”
The Unesco issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by Unesco Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.”
Ordaniza was the 31st media worker killed under the Aquino administration.
More than 170 journalists have been killed in the country since 1986, but only 10 suspects have been convicted so far of attacks made against media workers.