Attacks on journalists condemned

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — "If not like animals ready for slaughter, journalists are being treated like common criminals."

Thus said the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) in a manifesto condemning the "attacks" on some members of the media in Mindanao and elsewhere in the country.

"Almost every year, more and more Filipino journalists are being added to the long list of the missing or media practitioners murdered in the line of duty. What really disturbs us is that in most cases, the culprits have remained scot-free," added the press corps, which issued the manifesto in line with the Press Freedom Week (May 19 to 24).

The Cagayan de Oro journalists said they are "greatly disturbed and disgusted" over the way members of the media are being treated.

It cited the cases of journalists Edgar Damalerio of Pagadian City who was gunned down last year allegedly by a police officer, and Apolinario Pobeda of Lucena City, Quezon who was recently killed by still unknown assailants.

Damalerio’s case, according to them, is one glaring example of the government’s failure to protect the watchdogs of society.

They called on government authorities to "bring the killers of these journalists to justice."

In Manila, Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. ordered investigators to speed up their probe on Pobeda’s murder and the manhunt for dismissed policeman Guillermo Wapille, the principal suspect in Damalerio’s killing.

Ebdane is going to Ilocos Sur tomorrow to look into the investigation into last month’s ambush of broadcaster Efren Rafanan, that left his wife, son, brother and security aide dead.

Meanwhile, the Cagayan de Oro press corps also called for the decriminalization of the libel law, which, it said, is a "big blow to press freedom."

"Some people, particularly those in government, have found a more convenient way to punish journalists whom they consider to be unfriendly. Clearly, the libel law is being used as a tool to make journalists shut up or intimidate them into toning down their stories and commentaries," its manifesto stated.

Two local journalists — COPC past president Herbie Gomez, a correspondent of The Manila Times and executive editor of the local paper Goldstar Daily, and incumbent COPC director Joey Nacalaban, photojournalist of Sun*Star Cagayan de Oro — were recently arrested in connection with a P5-million libel case filed against them by Tangub City Mayor Jennifer Wee-Tan. — With Christina Mendez