Guingona urges gov't to seriously implement witness protection law

CEBU, Philippines -  House Deputy Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona III is calling on government to put serious effort in protecting witnesses of media killings by putting more teeth to Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act.

 “If witnesses to killings of media and activists will not come forward for fear of their lives, there will be no prosecution. And there will be no justice,” Guingona said.

Guingona, a member of the House committee on justice, made the call following an earlier call made by international watch group Committee to Protect Journalists for the Philippines to establish a special body that would investigate, prosecute and conduct trials against suspect of media killings, as well as to protect witnesses of the cases.

The United States-based group has been monitoring attacks on journalists worldwide and had listed the Philippines as one of the most dangerous countries for media to live in and work. Most of the killings recorded occurred in Mindanao.

In a statement sent to The Freeman, Guingona said the government has to put a stop “to the culture of impunity that pervades our system today.”

He said that if the state cannot protect witnesses to criminal cases, then it cannot expect the cases to proper and for justice to be rendered to the victims. Witnesses, he said, are the key to successful prosecution of cases.

Also earlier, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a Thailand–based organization, also challenged the Arroyo administration to put a stop to killings of journalists. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JMO (THE FREEMAN)