Source: The Daily Tribune
Malacañang has yet to effectively address the killing of journalists and threats to their safety despite its commitment to protect them as the trend continued under the Aquino administration.
The Philippines this year has been ranked sixth most dangerous place on earth for reporters by the Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a media watchdog which fights for the protection of journalists.
The PEC has recorded 14 journalist deaths under the Aquino administration, from July 2010 until end-December 2012.
On Jan. 5, Christopher Guarin, publisher of the newspaper Tatak News Nationwide and a presenter for the radio station dxMD, was shot dead in an ambush in General Santos City.
The second victim was Aldion Layao, a local politician and radio journalist. He was gunned down as he was returning to his home near Davao City on the evening of April 8.
While on April 24, for the second time in two weeks, Michael Calanasan was shot dead by two gunmen riding in tandem on a motorcycle in San Pablo City, Laguna province.
Calanasan was a columnist for the local daily newspaper The Laguna Courier.
On May 8, unidentified attackers also on a motorcycle shot dead Nestor Libaton, a broadcaster of the Catholic-run dxHM radio station based in Mati City, Davao Oriental province.
The fifth victim was identified as Eddie Jesus Apostol, a part-time radio blocktime reporter with dxND radio in Kidapawan, Cotabato last Sept. 1.
Two months after, a gunman shot dead Julius Cauzo, a reporter and radio anchor in Cabanatuan City.
The Philippines also topped the list of journalist casualties in five years from January 2008 to December 2012, the PEC noted.
With 571 journalists killed in the PEC report, 62 came from the Philippines, Mexico 59, Pakistan 53, Iraq 39, Syria 39, Somalia 37, Honduras 26, Brazil 22, Russia 20, India 17.
The PEC also noted that last year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries.
The media watchdog, in its Web site, said the figure was up by 31 percent on 2011.
Topping the list was Syria, with 37 journalists, among them 13 working for foreign media.
Four journalists are reported missing or detained: Ukrainian Anhar Kochneva, Jordanian-Palestinian Bashar Fahmi, freelance US reporter Austin Tice and another American reporter James Foley, who has contributed video to Agence France-Presse.
The situation in Somalia has deteriorated dramatically, where 19 were killed, said the PEC.
Three Latin American countries followed among the most dangerous places: Mexico with 11 journalists killed, Brazil also with 11 dead, and the Philippines, where six journalists were killed.
Honduras ranked number seven with six killed, followed by Bangladesh and India with four each, said the PEC.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, for its part, said last month that 67 reporters were killed in 2012, up 42 percent from the previous year, due in large part to the Syria conflict, shootings in Somalia, violence in Pakistan and killings of reporters in Brazil.
The Paris-based press rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) meanwhile put the number of those killed at 88 last year, with the Philippines ranking 140th out of 179 countries in its 2011-2012 press freedom index.
“The (Aquino) government that took over in July 2010 has not yet responded effectively to the media’s problems. Threats and violence against local radio station hosts (including physical attacks and murders) and the culture of impunity represent the biggest obstacles to media freedom,” the RSF has earlier said. With AFP
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