Aggressively pursue Lintuan killers, NY media group urges Arroyo

A New York-based media group on Thursday (Manila time) urged the government to aggressively pursue leads to solve the murder of Davao City broadcaster Ferdinand Lintuan, and prosecute those behind the slay. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) asked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to “use all her influence" to make sure that those behind the killing are tried and convicted, noting that the failure of officials to follow through with aggressive investigation and prosecution feeds the culture of impunity in the country. "Too many times we have seen local officials fail to follow through with aggressive investigations and prosecutions. Assailants think they can kill journalists with impunity in the Philippines," CPJ executive director Joel Simon said in an article posted on the CPJ website. “President Arroyo should use all her influence to ensure that Lintuan's case becomes a new model to follow – one in which the killers of a journalist are caught, tried, and convicted," he added. Simon said the CPJ's database shows 32 journalists have been killed for their work since 1992 in the Philippines. He noted that almost all were killed by small arms and almost all were involved in reporting on local crime, corruption, politics, or human rights. "There have been convictions in only two of those cases, that of Marlene Garcia-Esperat and Edgar Damalerio," Simon said. - GMANews.TV