EDITORIAL - A mockery of press freedom

Arrests have been made and some of those accused of murdering journalists have been convicted. But the message is still not strong enough for those who believe the best way to deal with bearers of bad news is to silence them permanently. Last Thursday night George Benaojan became the 10th journalist to be murdered in the country this year, and the second in less than two weeks.

Investigators said the hit was apparently work-related and carried out by a hired gun. Benaojan, a columnist of Bantay Balita in Bohol and a commentator of dyDD-Bantay Radio, had survived an ambush in Cebu City in August last year. This time a lone gunman waited for him at the central market in Talisay City where Benaojan had a stall. Benaojan was rushed to a hospital but died hours later from three gunshot wounds.

His murder came on the heels of the killing of tabloid reporter Robert Ramos in Cabuyao, Laguna last Nov. 20. Two brothers have been charged for the murder. Authorities have been moving to solve the killings of members of the press especially after international media watchdogs tagged the Philippines as the "most murderous" country in the world for journalists. The country beat even Iraq, which was rated the most dangerous place in the world for journalists; most of the killings in the Philippines are premeditated and not just the result of getting caught in the crossfire.

That penchant for murder is fed by the state’s failure to solve a long string of killings. Media watchdogs list Benaojan as the 73rd Filipino journalist to be murdered in the country since democracy was restored in February 1986. In many of the unsolved cases, the finger of blame points to local political kingpins, police or military officers or even influential heads of organized crime rings including gambling lords and drug dealers. These unsolved killings make a mockery of press freedom, and the murders will continue with impunity unless the masterminds are apprehended and punished.