Press group calls for super body vs media killings

In the wake of the recent killings of three media workers in a span of one week, a local media group pushed late Tuesday for a "super-body" to stop media killings. The National Press Club made the call to President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III, saying government must have enough teeth to go after the killers. "Sana ang darating na Aquino administration ... maging seryoso na talaga sa paglutas ng biktima natin sa pamamahayag na biktima nitong pamamaslang," NPC president Jerry Yap said in an interview on dzXL radio. He said the outgoing Arroyo administration is already a "record holder" for the more than a hundred "media deaths" during its nine-year watch. Yap also said Aquino should give the super-body enough funds to operate, not only in terms of law enforcement but also in terms of prosecution. He lamented the task force that the Arroyo administration created to solve media killings could not go far due to lack of funds, especially if operations involve going out of town. Calls for action The killing of three media workers in one week's time could serve as a litmus test for Aquino after he formally assumes his office June 30, international media groups said. In separate statements, the groups called anew on the government for action to solve the killing of Nestor Bedolido, Jovelito Agustin, and Desidario “Jessie" Camangyan. The groups made the call as the Justice Department's "Task Force 211" sent teams to the Mindanao and Ilocos to look into two of the cases. Radio dzBB reported the task force, which looks into cases involving political violence, sought to get more leads on the killing of Agustin in Ilocos and Camangyan in Davao Oriental. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said solving the killings can be a gauge of how he [Aquino] fulfills his promise of good governance. “Ending the killings of journalists and resolving past cases will be a litmus test of how seriously incoming president Benigno Aquino considers his promise of good governance for the Philippines," IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said on the IFJ website. “Without urgent and strong action to ensure justice for these murders, we fear the killings and culture of impunity will continue," Park added. IFJ, which represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide, said Bedolido’s killing brought to 140 the number of media workers killed since 1986. Of the 140 killed since 1986, 107 have been killed under the outgoing Arroyo administration, the IFJ said citing records from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). “Aquino will be judged on his resolve to hold accountable his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, for the unprecedented loss of media workers’ lives during her nine-year watch," Park said. String of killings Bedolido, 50, a reporter with The Kastigador weekly newspaper, was shot six times outside of a Digos City karaoke bar on June 20 while he was buying cigarettes. The assailant escaped on a motorcycle driven by an unidentified accomplice. Bedolido was pronounced dead on arrival at the local Gonzales Hospital. Bedolido’s son Marxlen, 22, said he believed his father’s murder was politically motivated as he was suspected of writing exposés against a politician in Davao del Sur during the May elections. Lat June 16 [Wednesday], Jovelito Agustin of dzJC Aksyon Radyo-Laoag in Ilocos Norte died hours after he was shot on his way home. About 24 hours earlier, Desidario “Jessie" Camangyan, anchorman of Sunrise FM, in Mati, Davao Oriental, Mindanao, was killed by a single shot to the head as he hosted a singing contest in Manay. Reverse 'outrageous trend' of media killings New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) lamented the killing of Bedolido by an unidentified gunman Sunday night in Digos City, Davao del Sur province. CPJ recalled sending a letter to Aquino on June 9, calling upon him to take measures to break the high rate of impunity in media killings under outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term. It added the Philippines placed third on its 2010 Impunity Index, a list of countries that consistently fail to address journalist killings. “We urge the authorities to quickly bring the perpetrators of Nestor Bedolido’s murder to justice. The murder of three journalists in one week underscores the urgency with which President-elect Benigno Aquino must act to reverse the outrageous trend of media killings in the Philippines," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative, on the CPJ website. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres/RSF) voiced outrage over Bedolido’s murder, the third in the past week in the Philippines. “We again urge governmental and judicial authorities to quickly do everything necessary to ensure that this murder is thoroughly investigated and that the police do not neglect the possibility that it was linked to local politics and the victim’s work as a journalist," it said in its website. It made the call despite Davao Del Sur police chief Ronald dela Rosa’s claim Bedolido was no longer a “practicing journalist." — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV