After massacre, only editor of Koronadal weekly survives

Only the editor-in-chief remains of the staff of a Koronadal City-based weekly newspaper after the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan claimed the lives of all five of his subordinates. A list prepared by the non-government Center for International Law (CenterLaw) on Thursday showed that the five staffers of the Hiligaynon weekly, Periodico Ini – its news bureau chief, marketing manager, circulation manager who also doubles as reporter, sales manager, and columnist – were among the journalists who were killed in the massacre. CenterLaw executive director Romel Regaldo Bagares told GMANews.TV on Thursday that his organization has so far listed 26 journalists who were murdered, while one remains missing. Ten of the 26 were from General Santos City, another 10 came from Koronadal City, three from Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, one from Cotabato City; and one from Davao City, while the one who remains missing is from Tacurong City. (See: updated list of media casualties in the Maguindanao massacre) Bagares said CenterLaw compiled the list through interviews with the victims' families and information provided by local journalists’ associations. Another journalist, earlier identified as a certain Boyet dela Cerna of Escalera News by the Philippine National Police, was not included on the CenterLaw’s list. The five Periodico Ini staffers were identified as: Rey Merisco; John Caniban; Arturo Betia; Noel Decena and Rani Razon. Merisco, 35, was the paper's columnist; Caniban, 28, was the news bureau chief; Betia, 52, was the marketing manager; Decena, 25, was the circulation manager-reporter; while Razon, 45, was the sales manager. CenterLaw quoted the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ferdinand Solinap, as saying that he did not know that his whole staff had gone to join the trip. Solinap, formerly working as a sales manager for another weekly, founded with his wife, Normalita, the five-year-old Periodico Ini, which has a weekly circulation of 1,000 copies sold in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. In spite of what had happened to his staff, Solinap said he would continue operating his business. “I remain undaunted," CenterLaw quoted Solinap as saying. He and his wife will continue to encourage their three children to seriously consider taking up journalism as a profession and continuing the family heritage, according to CenterLaw. - ARCS, GMANews.TV