This Week in Media (October 17 to 21, 2022)

Justice still elusive in Percy Lapid’s, other killings

ON OCTOBER 3, radio broadcaster Percy Lapid was gunned down in Las Piñas City. Lapid is the second journalist to be killed under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s watch, his death happening only a few days before the new chief executive celebrated his 100^th day in office. Lapid’s killing was immediately brought to international attention by non-government organizations and Filipino speakers at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

To compare, the first killing of a journalist under former President Duterte happened in December 2016. That two members of the media died only three months into Marcos’ term — one of them in the capital at that — is one more sign of the persistence of the climate of fear and intimidation instilled by Duterte.

Media duly followed developments on this brazen attack on one of their own, from the release of the CCTV footage of a person of interest to the surrender of the alleged gunman on October 17. 

On October 18, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos presented in a press briefing Joel Escorial, who claimed he was the gunman and that his contact inside the New Bilibid Prison gave the order to kill Lapid. Escorial claimed that six of them were involved in the murder, and received a total of PHP550,000 for the job. 

This development made banner story in print and led primetime newscasts, but reports from outfits like Rappler and GMA News Online noted that Abalos and the police did not entertain questions from the media. 

Coverage cited the plea of Roy Mabasa, Lapid’s brother, that the authorities secure Escorial and the alleged “middleman” in Bilibid. Mabasa made the appeal in his belief that the middleman is the best chance for his family to identify the mastermind. But in the late afternoon of October 20, news broke that the middleman Escorial was referring to had died on October 18, the same day that Escorial was presented to the media. 

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla delivered the news to the media in an unscheduled interview within DOJ grounds. He said the middleman was rushed to and died in Bilibid hospital, and that he was already serving his sentence.

But on the morning of October 20, Karen Davila interviewed on ANC Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police, who said the alleged middleman was still under trial for drug crimes and was in the process of being secured by the police. Davila pointed out that this meant the alleged middleman was not yet in Bilibid, which houses those who have already been convicted. Asked in the in-person interview whether the Bilibid inmate who died was really the alleged middleman, Remulla answered, “Baka ito nga ‘yun, e. We were a bit confused in the beginning and I was not told immediately.”  

Online news accounts referred to the ANC interview with Sermonia and Remulla’s face-to-face interview with the media to point out the apparent confusion between the police, which handles local jail facilities, and the Justice department, which oversees Bilibid through the Bureau of Corrections. Remulla also told reporters that the Bilibid inmate who died was named Crisanto Villamor, but TV5 reporter Camille Samonte pointed out in Frontline Tonight that the DOJ’s briefer did not say that Villamor was indeed the middleman. ABS-CBN’s Mike Navallo made the same observation in a tweet.

By the evening of October 20, PGen. Kirby Kraft, chief of the Southern Police District, revealed in a news briefing that there were actually two middlemen, and that one of them was in a facility under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Abalos was also present in this briefing, giving his assurance that the remaining middleman will be secured. But reports said as in Escorial’s presentation to the media, the authorities did not answer media’s questions sufficiently.

Anchors Henry Omaga Diaz of TV Patrol, Alvin Elchico and Doris Bigornia of Teleradyo’s SRO and Ed Lingao and Maeanne Los Baños of Frontline Tonight discussed the growing confusion, asking their colleagues on the ground questions as to why some information was revealed belatedly and why not all of the officials involved are on the same page. The reporters did say that neither the PNP nor the DOJ was forthcoming about details of the case, and that they were only reporting what they knew based on statements that have been given. For instance, the circumstances of the middleman’s death remain unclear pending autopsy results. But Mabasa told Lingao in The Big Story that a police source of his said Villamor died in his sleep, contrary to Remulla’s claim that Villamor was rushed to the hospital and died there.

Media must keep asking until they get sufficient answers. At the same time, they must also be vigilant against reported police visits, which was first made public by GMA reporter JP Soriano last week. Supposedly intended to check on the safety concerns of the media, police cited the death of Lapid as a reason for the uncoordinated visits, which left journalists feeling more fearful than protected. 

Inquirer.net identified at least five reporters who were visited either in their homes or in their offices by officers in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles. TV5 reported that one of their own was also visited. The police response was to halt all visits for now, which Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman described as reminiscent of Oplan Tokhang.

In separate interviews, Mabasa lamented the silence of President Marcos on his brother’s killing. It remains to be seen whether the chief executive would take heed, and whether that would translate into justice for slain journalists.