By Joel Simon and Sheila Coronel
At a recent conference on press freedom and impunity held in Manila, attorney Nena Santos declared, "My heart bleeds for justice for a friend and children of all the victims."
That friend was Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a crusading investigative reporter from Mindanao whose cold-blooded murder in March 2005 made her a press freedom martyr in the Philippines and around the world. Attorney Santos achieved a breakthrough in the Philippines when she helped convict the gunmen who carried out the killing. She now has her sights set on the masterminds.
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Rachel E. Khan
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Nearly 90% of the journalists slain in the line of duty during the Arroyo administration (2001- ) were exposing corruption. Others were killed for reporting on and criticizing illegal gambling and the drug trade in their localities.
These are among the findings of the annual report on the state of press freedom released by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) last Oct. 11.
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By Rachel E. Khan and Nathan J. Lee
A correspondent based in Batangas, south of Manila, has been living in danger for more than a month now after her articles exposing alleged corruption in the province angered Governor Armando Sanchez.
With five journalists already slain since the start of the year, Mei Magsino-Lubis, a correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, knows that to stay alive, one has to take death threats seriously and act with precaution. Early July, she noticed that her home was being stalked by unidentified men. By the middle of the month, she received a call from a police source notifying her that two prisoners from the provincial jail were “released” with orders to kill her. According to her source, it was no less than the warden, Lutgardo Natanauan, brother in law of Sanchez, who allegedly allowed their escape. Wasting no time, she has gone into hiding.
Read more here. |
