Phil Star correspondent receives threat
Three allegedly drug-crazed men hurled stones and tried to barge into the house
of a provincial journalist working for a national daily, just past midnight
last 11 August in Butuan City, around 800 kilometers southeast of Manila.
Ben Serrano, a correspondent for the Manila-based The Philippine Star, emerged
unscathed from the attack, which he said was intended to stop him from doing articles on illegal gambling, logging, and drugs in the said city and nearby.
According to Serrano, the men started shouting invectives and throwing stones at
his home at around 12:30 a.m., which prompted him to go outside to accost the suspects.
Apparently under the influence of drugs, the men, led by a certain Jaymark Logronio, a grandson of the local area chairman, continued to heave abusive words at the startled Serrano, when a policeman suddenly appeared and inquired about the nature of the rift. Instead of stopping the suspects, the policeman asked Serrano why the men are mad at him.
Another suspect, identified as an alias “Dodong,” also appeared during the altercation, pointed his finger at Serrano AND warned him, to “be watchful…your day will come soon.”
Minutes later the cops from the nearby Butuan City police precinct arrived while Serrano and the men were still exchanging barbs. However, the responding policemen didn’t collar the suspects despite the suspects’ continued amok and threat to “kill me,” added Serrano.
Serrano later filed a formal complaint at the city police’s main headquarters, and afterwards sought the help of the Star, Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (FFFJ), and other media organizations.
Prior to this incident, Serrano said he had been the subject of continuous harassment after he alerted the Philippine National Police and other concerned government agencies about illegal drugs activities in Butuan.
“As a result of the attack, my wife suffered nervous breakdown, while my children went into trauma [sic],” Serrano said in his letter to the FFFJ.
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