Congressional inquiry into media slays sought

MANILA, Philippines - Alarmed by the increasing number of journalists getting murdered, Sen. Richard Gordon called for a congressional inquiry into the killings.

Gordon filed Senate Resolution 1133 directing the Senate committee on justice and human rights to conduct an investigation into the continuing incidents of killings and arbitrary acts of violence against journalists.

Gordon said the situation is alarming considering that five journalists were killed in the first half of the year alone.

“Journalists must be able to investigate and present fair reports of the myriad of issues and other newsworthy matters without fear of reprisal and unlawful acts of violence against them,” Gordon stressed.

Gordon identified the five journalists who were murdered this year as Badrodin Abbas and Ernie Rullen, radio commentators of dxCM Radio Ukay and dsXY, respectively; Jojo Trajano, reporter of Remate; Crispin Reyes, host of radio program “Sa Totoo Lang” of dwDO Heart FM; and Antonio Castillo, a correspondent of the tabloid Bigwas.

Gordon said the 2009 Impunity Index of the Committee to Protect Journalists launched last March placed the Philippines sixth among countries that failed to prosecute cases of slain journalists.

“Our country has been accused as being perpetrators of extrajudicial killings mainly because we had not been able to conduct any cogent investigation, or for that matter, been able to arrest any of the suspects in these dastardly deeds,” Gordon said. – Christina Mendez