Int'l groups slam attacks against broadcasters

International media groups condemned Thursday what they called the continuing threats and violence against Philippine radio commentators who report on organized crime and corruption. France-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres/RSF) made the claim following a death threat on RGMA Palawan station manager Lily Uy. RSF, in a statement posted on the International Freedom of Expression eXchange, also condemned the shooting and wounding of Manuel Kong of dxSN in Surigao last Monday. The group called on the Philippine National Police Task Force Usig to quickly identify the suspects and bring them to justice. Uy, the manager of radio RGMA in the western province of Palawan, and several of her employees received threatening text messages last August 18. "I am getting tired of her," one of the messages said. "If she does not stop criticizing me, I won’t just rob her shop. I’ll kill her and her family," RSF cited accounts of the incident. Uy owns several stores in Palawan, one of which was recently robbed. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the police were investigating the threats and the robbery. On the other hand, an unidentified gunman shot Kong, a commentator on radio dxSN. Kong was seriously injured after a motorcycle-riding gunman shot him in the face. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned Wednesday the attempted slay attempt on Kong. In a statement on its website, the group branded the attack on Kong a “severe threat to media workers’ personal safety as well as a brutal violation of freedom of speech." "This recent attack on Kong's life is a horrendous and blatant threat to those media workers in the Philippines who continue to persevere to report without inhibition despite the dangers they face," IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said. Citing data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), IFJ said an unidentified gunman shot Kong outside radio station dxSN in Surigao City, around 12:30 p.m. Kong sustained a bullet injury to his left cheek and a pierced throat, requiring surgery at a hospital. Reports indicated the unidentified gunman, aided by two companions as lookout, escaped on a motorbike after attempting a second failed shot at Kong, who was inside his parked car at the time. "Kong is known to be a strong campaigner against illegal drugs, a fierce critic of the Barbers political party and currently the spokesperson for Surigao del Norte Representative Francisco Tinio Matugas, who reportedly accounted for his medical bills and private airlift," IFJ noted. It added this is the second attempt on Kong’s life after he survived another assassination attempt in 2002. "Such attacks on the lives of media workers, which at the same time threaten the freedom of the press in the Philippines, will not be tolerated and we demand the culprit be brought to justice," Park said. - GMANews.TV