Another press exec shot in General Santos City

Visayas mediamen reacted with shock to the latest report of a 25-year-old newspaper executive who was shot and critically wounded in General Santos City last Tuesday morning.

But there may be a twist to the attempt on Danilo Aguirre’s life. Aguirre is a marketing executive of the Socsksargen’s Mindanao Bulletin and a special project officer of the Mindanao Media Services, a PR consultancy firm managed by the Jubelag family of General Santos City. He survived the slay attempt and may be able to identify his assailant.

What makes the latest incident shocking is that Task Force Mediamen still has to complete its investigation into the killings of scores of Filipino mediamen in the last few years.

No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao has taken over the task force, following a spate of killings of journalists earlier this year that created a stir in the international community.

But after the initial flurry of a government crackdown on the alleged gunmen, nothing much has been heard about the prosecution of these cases.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the latest incident is a "reflection of the government’s failure to ensure security not only for journalists but for all Filipinos, especially those in the provinces who complain about human rights violations while our leaders busy themselves with politics in the capital."

An international press watchdog has called the Philippines one of the world’s most dangerous places for working journalists. For this year alone, six reporters have been killed.

Army Told: Produce 7 Arrested Persons

Last Tuesday, Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles ordered the Philippine Army and the police to produce the seven persons they arrested on suspicion of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The writ of habeas corpus also directed the lawmen to show cause for the alleged illegal detention of Moritto Dioonson, Marilou Villanueva, Abraham Villanueva, Charity Villar, Darry Dayanan, Rico Abrasaldo and Jermie Gellegan.

Except for Abrasaldo and Gellegan, the rest are members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and not of the NPA, according to relatives who sought their release.

The seven were arrested by Army troopers belonging to the 12th Infantry Batallion last Friday night in Caminagawan Village, Kabankalan City.

Karapatan’s Fred Cana said Col. Jerry Leo Fojas, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, could not assure them that the arrested persons are safe.

He claimed that a dialogue between them and Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon proved futile since Fojas refused to release the seven.

Anakbayan-Negros also condemned the arrest of the seven, stressing that the iron hand of President Arroyo was at work.

Judge Arles directed the 12th Alpha Company, under 1Lt. Sandy Labrador and 1Lt. Cristopher Belardo, Kabankalan police chief Danilo Pera, Cardona police chief Herman Coska, and Col. Norman Flores of the 1st IB to produce the seven before the court.

The Philippine Army, meanwhile, filed charges last Monday against the seven for illegal possession of firearms in the Kabankalan RTC and frustrated murder charges for the attack on the Haba detachment.

Tension has been rising in the province since a month ago, and the case of the seven is expected to further heighten clashes between the military and some activists and militant organizations.

A Blow To ABS-CBN

The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. was ordered by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) to pay its former Bacolod manager P1.5 million in back wages, separation pay and attorney’s fees after it declared that she was dismissed from work "without valid cause and due process."

The network’s lawyer, Andres Hagad, said they will appeal the NLRC ruling.

Labor arbiter Wilma Kalaw issued the 13-page decision awarding the P1.5 million to Agnes Lira-Jundos, who was discharged on Feb. 12, 2004. Jundos worked for ABS-CBN from September 1988 to August 2005 as desk and senior reporter. She was appointed station manager for Bacolod on April 1, 2003.

ABS-CBN dismissed her for unpaid personal phone bills at PLDT and RCPI, the latter being a sister company of the broadcasting network.

From 2002 to 2003, Jundos made personal international direct dial calls via RCPI but was not billed for the calls.

In July 2003, the ABS-CBN head office released a revised policy on the use of phone lines. Later, the Bacolod station showed that it had accumulated phone bills amounting to P992,708.92 from December 1999 to July 2003.

Jundos finally got hold of the billing statement on Sept. 23, 2003. She explained that she had never seen any billing statement and was never directed to pay for all her RCPI calls.

On Jan. 5, 2004, Jundos received a memorandum informing her that she was placed under preventive suspension for 30 days. She was later served a termination letter informing her that she was being dismissed for loss of confidence.

In her decision, Kalaw said Jundos was dismissed without valid cause and due process.

Kalaw also noted that Jundos made the calls on the station’s RCPI lines believing that they were free of charge. This was bolstered by the fact that she did not receive any previous bills for her calls.

She added that the network charged her with three different amounts but was not furnished the copies of the bills.

Thus, Jundos was summarily dismissed without having been appraised of the specific charges against her nor was she given the opportunity to be heard or to defend herself.

Jundos is currently the public information officer of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

The case, although still on appeal, has been the talk of Bacolod.

ADDENDA. Belgian national Patrick Eduard Taez is reportedly poised to file estafa raps against policeman Jojo Duka, who was allegedly convinced by an investigating police officer to raise the estimated damage on a fence from P2,000 to P47,702. Dumaguete City police chief Manuel Hidalgo ordered the police officers to produce the amount and conduct a full investigation into the case. But the Belgian national may reportedly escape charges for killing three motorists on Thursday last week in Barangay Banilad, Dumaguete City. SPO4 George Ynzon, traffic officer, said the families of victims Roy Flores, 37; Valeriano Mayorala, 29; and Santiago Alcoran, 35, may enter into an amicable agreement with Taez. The families were reportedly paid P60,000 for burial expenses. That’s the situation at the moment but perhaps, it is about time that a more serious probe of the incident be undertaken… Meanwhile, Bacolod City was elated when the new police chief, Senior Superintendent Pedro Merced, immediately started a crackdown on lawbreakers and ordered a strict enforcement of traffic regulations and city ordinances. Merced, who took over from police chief Vic Ponteras, has reportedly ordered a round-up of some 100 tricycles found violating an ordinance banning tricycles from the city’s main streets. This is an issue that has long been the clamor of Bacolod folk. Many incidents of collisions between motorists and pedicabs have been reported in the past and scores of passengers injured. Merced, who is reputedly a no-nonsense police officer, immediately established a name for himself despite the fact that he has just taken over the police department. May his tribe increase.