It is with very deep remorse and extreme sadness that we, the officers and members of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP Davao City & Region XI Chapters) in concert with our colleagues from the other media groups collectively condemn today’s brutal slaying of fellow broadcaster/newsman Fernando ‘Ferdie/Batman’ Lintuan of Aksyon Radyo of the Manila Broadcasting Corporation (MBC);
A cowardly act hatched only by the most malevolent hearts and minds, the Lintuan broad daylight gunslaying is proof enough that today, the media person is still a high-risk object of annihilation by those who fear the practitioner’s noble trade as well the use of more superior thought or idea in a society that claims to be humane & civilized;
Himself targeted by assailants in the 1980s while anchoring a radio show with Leo Palo at DXRA but survived the initial attempt on his life, this time around Lintuan didn’t make it: he finally succumbed to fatal wounds inflicted upon him by his unknown yet determined assailants along R. Castillo Street, Davao City;
To us, this brazen attack on a colleague achieves nothing save the institutionalization of fear and hatred and vengeance, apparently a medium to settle scores, a truly despicable act of naked aggression and betrayal and a manifestation or display of impunity, with no qualm or concern whatsoever for the fact that the grievous crime was done even just a few hours before Christmas Day;
Whatever the real motive or motives behind the December 24 killing, we vehemently condemn this as not just a vicious attack on Lintuan’s person only but truly a direct affront or insult to media as an institution the only potent tool of which is an unarmed free conscience and an unhindered medium of truth;
To us, no amount of reason or reasons can ever justify the use of force to snuff out precious lives, whatever personal fault or hurt the victim has exacted upon the perpetrator or upon those who machinated the same; thus, we condemn for the nth time this criminal act for no man has ever been given the right nor the moral justification to kill his fellowman;
Therefore, we call today upon law enforcers to wage a full-dress, no-nonsense investigation, to leave no stone unturned in guaranteeing the fullest & unbiased disclosure of truth behind the Lintuan slaying;
We challenge investigators to be totally unafraid in ferreting out the truth no matter who gets hurt, for that alone is the genuine essence of justice and fairness;
We challenge those who wield authority to let justice takes it fullest course and to hail in the courts of law whoever gets substantially implicated in this latest blatant assault against the Davao media as an agent of a free social institution in this part of the country;
For those of us who remain in these dangerous times, we exhort our colleagues from the various media the press, radio, television and online medium to never waver for a single moment in our chosen mandate to be voice of the voiceless; therefore, let us not be cowed, let us not be shackled and immobilized by this culture of fear.
Let us instead close our ranks; let us not be afraid. Let us be ready at all times to be decisive in our advocacies and in our convictions.
To the family and friends of Ferdie Lintuan, we express our deepest condolences though we are certain no word can ever assuage your untold sadness & anguish at his untimely demise and passing; our simple prayer is that Ferdie shall gently rest in peace, that when everything shall come to an end, as there shall always be a day of reckoning for all of us, that the ends of justice shall then be adequately served.
God bless the Davao Media!
