President says many ‘media killings’ not related to work

CMFR/Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III said in an interview with Bombo Radyo on 27 August 2014 that many of the reported incidents of “media killings” were not related to the victims’ work, according to the police. He added that the people in his administration were too “decent” to reveal the real personal motives behind the killings.

Bombo Radyo news director Elmar Acol asked, “Mr. President, with regard to media killings, do you have new marching orders for those in the PNP (Philippine National Police)? Lately, there was another one shot in Dagupan, Pangasinan.”

Acol was referring to the shooting of radio commentator Orlando “Orly” Navarro on 26 August 2014.

“We are coordinating with the National Press Corps (sic) where they suggested having a representative in the inter-agency task force we are setting up to address media killings,” Aquino said.

“When we say ‘media killing,’ usually (there are) agents of the state suppressing the search for the truth . . . but many of them, we can say, were not in pursuit of the profession,” the President added.

Aquino said that there were various personal motives behind ‘media killings,’ such as love triangles and extortion, but “decent” people in his administration chose not to publicize these.

“Do we want to publicize that the reason (for the killing) was a personal dispute? . . . Is it appropriate in our culture to say that the victim did something bad and the assailant had no other recourse? So I have asked the good Justice Secretary (Leila de Lima) to review (the suggestion that) maybe it is important for us to complete the story so that the people will know that whatever crime that was, it was solved.”

CMFR has recorded 217 journalists and media workers killed in the Philippines since 1986, 145 of which were killed in the line of duty. Only 14 cases have resulted in the conviction of the gunmen involved.  No mastermind has been convicted.