Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega, a broadcaster with Radio Mindanao Network was shot dead on Monday 24 January in Puerto Princesa city. His lawyer has claimed that his murder was related to his work. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 99 journalists have been killed in Philippines since 1992, with one of the worst massacres taking place in the Maguindanao province of Phillipines in 2009 when 32 media workers were murdered.
A year after the Philippines witnessed the mass slaughter of 58 people, including 32 journalists, justice for the victims’ families seems a distant prospect. Harry Roque reports.
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The Aroyo governments drops the pretence it is capable of prosecuting its political allies implicated in the slaughter of reporters. The only hope for the victim’s family is that the upcoming elections will deliver change argues Harry Roque
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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for all presidential candidates standing in the Filipino general election in May to make pledges protecting journalists and to overturn the “country’s culture of impunity”. This move comes after the government dropped the murder charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan on Saturday, who were linked to the Maguindanao massacre in November 2009. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has today named the Philippines as one of the 12 countries on its 2010 Impunity Index.