Int'l media group tells RP: Get tough on attackers of journalists

MANILA, Philippines - An international media watchdog group urged the Philippine government Wednesday to send a strong signal against attacks on journalists by solving soonest the ambush on Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) anchor Dennis Cuesta. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres/RSF) said authorities should identify and punish those responsible for the shooting, which came just a month after the murder of journalist Bert Sison in Quezon province. "We urge the government to send a strong signal of its determination to protect the media by assigning additional resources to the Task Force in charge of investigating attacks on journalists," it said on its website. Cuesta was in a coma in the intensive care unit of a hospital after being shot at close range while walking in a shopping mall in General Santos City Monday. He hosted the program "Straight to the Point," a hard-hitting show tackling controversial and sensitive subjects such as corruption and drug trafficking. Police are not ruling out the possibility that the shooting was linked to his work as a journalist. New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, meanwhile, noted a "pattern" in the attempted killing of Cuesta. "We call for an immediate investigation into this attempt on Cuesta's life, which follows a pattern that journalists in the Philippines know only too well," said Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ's Impunity Campaign Coordinator. "Journalists in the Philippines are frequently killed and assaulted with impunity, all for doing their jobs. In the past 10 years at least 25 journalists have been victims of premeditated murder in connection to their work," she added in a statement on the CPJ website. CPJ cited news reports that Cuesta recently applied for a firearm license and requested police protection following death threats related to his reporting. It also noted that in July 2005, DXMD commentator Rolando "Dodong" Morales was shot repeatedly by a group of motorcycle-riding assailants while driving home from the station's studios in General Santos City. The CPJ said it subsequently confirmed that the slaying was work-related. CPJ is now investigating the June 30 shooting of Philippine journalist Bert Sison, who was killed in his car by two gunmen passing on a motorcycle. Publisher Benefredo Acabal also died of gunshot wounds after a drive-by shooting in April. - GMAnews.TV