Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at the murder of public radio reporter Carmelo Palacios in the northern province of Nueva Ecija on 17 April and a shooting attack south of Manilla today on Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Delfin Mallari and radio DZMM reporter Johnny Glorioso, in which Mallari was injured. Police said Palacios’ murder was probably linked to his work as a journalist.
Press Statement
18 April 2007
The Antonio Zumel Center for Press Freedom (AZCPF) strongly condemns the recent attacks on media people and journalists. The assassins want to prevent the media from bringing to the public the true state of the nation and the criminal activities being committed by those in power.
The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) today is delivering an appeal backed by nearly two hundred European parliamentarians from across the political spectrum for the immediate release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston.
The appeal, signed by 197 members of the European Parliament, is to be presented later today to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority including the offices of President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the Palestinian Legislative Council.
MANILA — This week marks another dark period for press freedom in the Philippines, with the murder of a colleague, the attempted murder of another and a libel case filed by a governor against yet another.
Carmelo Palacios, 41, field reporter of the government-run Radyo ng Bayan, was found dead in Sta. Rosa town, Nueva Ecija, Wednesday morning, his body battered and shot in the chin. He was the 51st journalist to be killed under the Arroyo administration’s increasingly blood-drenched watch, and the third this year.
As the Taleban’s spring offensive intensifies, civilians are increasingly facing suicide attacks, abductions and beheadings. The attacks on civilians by the Taleban are widespread and systematic and are used to instil fear and exert control over the local population, according to an Amnesty International report released today.