Extrajudicial Killings

Another Dark Period for Press Freedom in Philippines

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.

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Philippines: Justice Secretary’s ‘Boorishness’ Against IPU Officials Slammed

MANILA — Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran slammed anew Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez for the latter’s rude and boorish behavior when Gonzalez dialogued with officials of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) this afternoon. Gonzalez himself said that he told the IPU officials Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs, IPU secretary-general Anders Johnson and IPU HR committee secretary Ingeborg Schwarz to ‘go home’ and ‘stop meddling in the Philippines’ affairs.’

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Attacks on Media, Leftists in Philippines Must Stop Now — KMP

MANILA — The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) condemned the latest attack on the media by forces out to silence the truth in the country. This time motorcycle riding assailants attacked Delfin ?Sonny? Mallari Jr., a correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and has covered stories of peasants in the area and is close to KMP. According to Danilo ?Ka Daning? Ramos, secretary general of KMP, ?what they did to Sonny was despicable and dastardly, Sonny was just out performing his job as a straight reporter and a very good one at that,?

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President Orders Probe on Attacks Vs Journalists in Philippines

MANILA — Describing the successive attacks this week on provincial media practitioners as “despicable,” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the local law enforcement agencies to “carry out a swift and thorough investigation.”

In a statement, Press Secretary and concurrent Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said attacks on journalists have “no place in a democracy that upholds press freedom.”

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Philippines: Shooting of Inquirer Journalist Denounced

MANILA –Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran expressed condemnation for the shooting of Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent in Southern Tagalog Delfin Mallari, saying that the shooting could very well be politically-motivated.

“Sonny is a journalist with a firm sense of social justice and an advocate of human rights. His reports and commentaries reveal his humane and humanitarian advocacies even as they are objectively written and delivered. There is strong basis to allege that his shooting was politically motivated and intended to either discourage his espousal of activist causes or completely silence him. We are much relieved to hear that he survived the attack and pray for his recovery. We extend a hand in comfort to his wife and family,” said Beltran.

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