Sun.Star: Cagayan de Oro journalists eye firearms use
06/29/2007 | 07:19 AM
Following the murder of Radyo ng Bayan reporter Victor Sumalpong in Tawi-Tawi last Monday, media practitioners in Cagayan de Oro City are seriously considering arming themselves.
Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro reported Friday that many journalists in the province felt it was time to rm themselves and keep watch.
"The ultimate option is to arm ourselves and keep watch. Truth and press freedom is not only worth dying for, but also fighting for," said Jerry Ocrullo, president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club Inc. (Copci).
Unidentified men shot dead Sumalpong and wounded his two companions last Monday. Sumalpong and his two companions were on their way to work in Nalil village in Bongao.
Wounded was Vema Antham, 40, a broadcaster of the same radio station, and Sumalpong’s nephew Roilan Hope Borja.
Sumalpong died from five gunshot wounds. Antham sustained a bullet wound in her shoulder while Borja was hit on the right foot.
Spent shells from an Uzi automatic rifle and caliber .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
Major Samuel Sagun, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said journalists are entitled to the rights and privileges of owning a gun.
But Sagun said the government cannot afford to arm all media practitioners, should they ask for it at the expense of the state.
On the other hand, former Copci president Uriel Quilinging said the Tawi-Tawi attack augurs “a breakdown of law and order in this country."
Quilinging said that even if they are armed, journalists remain vulnerable to attacks.
"Any citizen facing death threats can apply for a permit to carry a firearm. Carrying a firearm doesn’t mean a journalist is safe from assassins," he said.
He added guns "do not deter killings" and "can even provoke more bloodshed."
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported that 52 journalists had been killed in the country since 2001. - GMANews.TV
Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro reported Friday that many journalists in the province felt it was time to rm themselves and keep watch.
"The ultimate option is to arm ourselves and keep watch. Truth and press freedom is not only worth dying for, but also fighting for," said Jerry Ocrullo, president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club Inc. (Copci).
Unidentified men shot dead Sumalpong and wounded his two companions last Monday. Sumalpong and his two companions were on their way to work in Nalil village in Bongao.
Wounded was Vema Antham, 40, a broadcaster of the same radio station, and Sumalpong’s nephew Roilan Hope Borja.
Sumalpong died from five gunshot wounds. Antham sustained a bullet wound in her shoulder while Borja was hit on the right foot.
Spent shells from an Uzi automatic rifle and caliber .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
Major Samuel Sagun, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said journalists are entitled to the rights and privileges of owning a gun.
But Sagun said the government cannot afford to arm all media practitioners, should they ask for it at the expense of the state.
On the other hand, former Copci president Uriel Quilinging said the Tawi-Tawi attack augurs “a breakdown of law and order in this country."
Quilinging said that even if they are armed, journalists remain vulnerable to attacks.
"Any citizen facing death threats can apply for a permit to carry a firearm. Carrying a firearm doesn’t mean a journalist is safe from assassins," he said.
He added guns "do not deter killings" and "can even provoke more bloodshed."
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported that 52 journalists had been killed in the country since 2001. - GMANews.TV
