Florante de Castro, killed 1984, not 1986
While browsing through the pages of old issues of Malaya newspaper, the staff discovered that Florante de Castro, a Mindanao-based news commentator, was killed on March 9, 1984, not 1986, as has been listed in CMFR and other media organizations’ databases.
De Castro, also a lawyer, was gunned down on the said date inside his house in General Santos City.
According to a March 13, 1984 editorial of Malaya, spearheaded then by the late Jose Burgos Jr., assemblyman Reuben Canoy even wrote “Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile urging him (the latter) to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of [De Castro]…”
Canoy also cited the slaying of two other media practitioners, Bulletin Today’s Demy Dingcong (1980) and Philippine Post’s Geoffrey Siao (March 2, 1984), who were all considered killed in the line of their journalism work.
“Apparently, these murders had to do with persons whose corrupt activities the slain media men were trying to expose,” Canoy stressed, as quoted by the said Malaya issue. “If the press, radio and television people are to serve as instruments, of good government, they deserve to be protected in the conduct of their profession.”
In view of this development, CMFR is now excluding De Castro from its list of “Filipino Journalists/Media Practitioners Killed in the Line of Duty Since 1986.” Thus, the official list will be 61, down from 62, as of December 12, 2006.
Pardon for this off topic post:
Pardon this off topic post:
Malaya reports “Militant, lawyer shot dead in Sorsogon”
The report says:
A MEMBER of a militant peasant group and a lawyer of Bayan Muna party-list group were killed Monday afternoon and yesterday morning in Sorsogon.
Militants listed Cris Frivaldo, who was shot in Irosin, as the 793rd, and lawyer Gil Gojol, who was shot in Gubat, as 794th victims of political killings since President Arroyo assumed office in 2001.
To read the rest of the story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/dec13/news5.htm
It is deeply sickening to hear of the continuing killings and extremely saddening to think that these two killings occurred yesterday even while almost almost a thousand European and Filipno demonstrators from all walks of life calling for a Stop to the Killings in the Philippines were preparing to march and troop to the Philippine Embassy in Brussels braving the rain and the cold.
This government is despicable!
Pictures of the rally in Brussels mmay be accessed at httpss://www.the-philippine-vigil.blogspot.com