The Inquirer on Ex-Tagum Mayor: Negligent and Irresponsible

JEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for publishing a report on former Tagum City mayor Rey Uy’s abandoning the Liberal Party to support the presidential candidacy of Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, without mentioning the alleged links of the two officials to death squad operations in their respective cities.

On November 29, the Inquirer ran a story (“LP leaders in Mindanao go for Duterte”) quoting Uy extensively about his decision to leave the Liberal Party and to support Duterte’s candidacy. “We’re throwing our support behind Duterte as it is a once-in-a-blue moon opportunity to have a Mindanaoan running for the presidency,” Uy said, according to the paper.

Duterte had earlier announced that running for president was now “on the table.” In his previous speeches and statements, Duterte said his objective is to replicate the success of Davao City in terms of fighting crime. In surveys both formal and informal, Filipinos have said they want Duterte for president because of his tough stance against crime. His approach, by his own admission, requires the use of violence  against crime suspects.  He has been accused by human rights groups of encouraging and allowing the so-called Davao Death Squad to kill crime suspects without due process.

Not only did the Inquirer fail to provide this background on Duterte – it also failed to mention in its report that Uy himself, who is running for Tagum mayor in 2016, has been accused of forming, funding and directing the operations of the Tagum Death Squad, which has been implicated in numerous Davao Death Squad-style killings as well as contract killings.

The National Bureau of Investigation has investigated Uy following a 2014 report by Human Rights Watch and a case is reportedly going to be filed against Uy and several of his associates for their alleged  involvement in the killings in Tagum City.

Not mentioning this background on Uy in the report is not only negligent and irresponsible of the Inquirer – it is a disservice to its readers and the public, who need contextualized and complete information on officials during elections, especially the  likes of Uy and Duterte who are facing serious allegations of human rights abuse.