Intl group outraged over attack on radio station in Mindoro

An international media watchdog group, the Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF, Reporters Without Borders) expressed its outrage on Friday (Manila time) after unidentified men set on fire a radio station in Mindoro Occidental this week. RSF said authorities should have carefully guarded radio station dzVT as it had been a target of attacks days before the fire. The group quoted a local journalist as saying dzVT might have been the target of retaliation for broadcasting commentaries critical of a local politician. “We are outraged by the violence directed against a growing number of media organizations in retaliation just for broadcasting or publishing commentaries locally," RSF said on its website. “There are 50 or so radio stations on the island and hundreds throughout the country. The government can no longer economize on security measures for media workers, without which hired killers, private militias and terrorist groups such as the New People’s Army (the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines) continue to act with impunity," it added. Philippine authorities must carry out an in-depth investigation to find those who set fire to the premises, destroying transmission equipment and causing damage estimated at P10 million. The police found a container of gasoline at the scene, an evidence of criminal intent. It also reminded President Benigno Aquino III of his commitments to freedom of the press and the protection of media workers. The Philippines is in 156th place out of 178 countries listed in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2010. - VVP, GMA News