RP joins Somalia in ‘hall of shame’ for media killings – watchdog

The killing of a radio broadcaster in Mindanao earlier this week puts the Philippines at par with Somalia as "leaders" in media worker deaths this year, an international watchdog group said. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the killing of Godofredo Linao Jr., the sixth Philippine media worker to be killed so far this year, puts the country in the “world league of infamy" in media-related deaths in 2009. Somalia, which has no existing central government since 1991, had earlier recorded six media worker killings since the year began. Linao, 49, was a disc jockey of 94.5 Magic Love FM radio in Bislig City who reportedly received death threats on his cellphone prior to the incident. He was shot dead in Barabo town, Surigao del Sur, several hours before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivered her ninth State of the Nation Address on Monday. The radio commentator sustained four gunshot wounds in the back as he was about to set off on his motorcycle. Trend? IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park raised concern that a trend has been growing in media-related killings in the Philippines. "This latest murder fits the pattern of systemic violence against journalists in the Philippines and particularly radio broadcasters, whose professional work is to report and comment on controversial and sensitive issues," Park said. The IFJ urged Surigao del Sur authorities to “act swiftly" in the arrest of the suspects and the resolution of the case. Meanwhile, other media groups like France-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) and New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the killing of Linao and urged the government to deploy resources in going after his killers. "Linao is the fourth journalist to be killed in less than two months in the Philippines, in what was the third murder of this kind. Many of these murders have taken place in Mindanao, which has become one of the most dangerous regions in the world for radio journalists," RSF said in its website . The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, an IFJ affiliate, recorded that three (including Linao) of the six media workers killed this year came from Mindanao. [See sidebar] Meanwhile, the CPJ noted that the Philippines placed sixth on its 2009 Impunity Index, which ranks countries that fail to prosecute cases of journalists killed for their work. Task Force 211 But Justice Undersecretary Ricardo R. Blancaflor, who heads Task Force 211, a team mandated to investigate journalist killings, said they have not been remiss in their duties to bring perpetrators to justice. In fact, Blancaflor said, the one-year-old task force has managed to file charges and arrest suspects in six media-related killings since the group was formed last year. “It’s so unfair. But when we solve a case no one reports it," Blancaflor told GMANews.TV in an interview. [See summary of Team Force 211's accomplishment's here.] Blancaflor also questioned whether Linao’s death has any connection with his profession as a media practitioner since their initial investigations point to another possible motive. The IFJ itself noted that Linao was the spokesperson of Surigao del Sur vice governor Librado Navarro and was reportedly eyeing a stint as candidate in the next local elections. “He’s also a blocktimer in radio. I don’t know if that qualifies as a journalist," Blancaflor said. NUJP official Rowena Paraan acknowledged that Blancaflor’s task force has been performing well in the pursuit of crimes committed against people in media work. But much more could have been done. “They are really working," Paraan said, “But that is not the only factor. We have yet to see any mastermind persecuted." Since 1986, the year democracy was restored in the country after People Power, the NUJP recorded 104 media killings. Out of this number, 64 have died under President Arroyo’s rule. At one time, the Philippines was only second to Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists in the whole world. - with Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV