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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Murder most foul

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The brazen murder of radio commentator–vlogger Percy Mabasa, also known as Percy Lapid, deserves utmost condemnation as it appears to have brought impunity to a new and higher level.

That’s because it happened right in the city, the country’s political and economic center, whereas many similar cases in the past had been confined to the provinces, targeting mostly provincial broadcasters, reporters and editors who had stepped on the toes either of public officials and/or criminals.

The killer(s) – and quite possibly the mastermind(s) wanted to deliver a chilling message: “We can go after you and kill you wherever you are.”

Then there’s the fact that Lapid had been a hard-hitting commentator who had been critical of the previous administration and even the current one.

The knee-jerk reaction by some quarters has been to suggest that the blame should be laid squarely on the Duterte and Marcos administrations for Lapid’s murder. But this is unfair and uncalled for pending the start of any police investigation.

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The Philippine National Police has vowed to get to the bottom of the Lapid case and to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice. They should be given enough time to do their job.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos has condemned the killing and likewise urged the police to exhaust all angles as to who could have had the motive and the means to silence Lapid.

Lapid’s killing is the second to take place in the first three months of the Marcos Jr. administration.

It’s not something that government can simply dismiss as an isolated incident and therefore treat it as a purely police matter because it concerns press freedom, which is guaranteed by our Constitution and is among the cornerstones of a democratic system.

We can understand therefore that even several foreign embassies have expressed grave concern over the Lapid killing and urged authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

The strong reaction from seven countries, including the US, Canada and Britain, along with the European delegation in Manila, should send a strong signal to the Marcos administration on the importance of protecting press freedom in the country.

We have had too many journalists killed in the line of duty for as long as we can remember. And how many of the killers have been brought to justice and punished for murder most foul?

While justice has been served in the biggest single case involving press freedom—the mass murder of 58 journalists in the infamous Ampatuan massacre in November 2009, with long prison sentences imposed on the masterminds—we’re not sure if the other cases have been solved at all or simply ended up as “deaths under investigation” because of lack of witnesses or witnesses too scared to testify for fear of their own lives.

The Marcos administration should see to it that the investigation of this latest killing of a journalist is thorough, and gets the priority it deserves.

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