US deplores murders of journalists, calls for justice

MANILA, Philippines - The US government deplored yesterday the latest killings of journalists and urged authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“We deplore the murders of all three journalists and offer our condolences to their families,” US Ambassador Harry Thomas told The STAR in an interview. “We implore the Philippine authorities to bring to justice those who are responsible for these crimes.”

Thomas gave the statement as formal charges were filed against a newly elected vice mayor, a policeman and a barangay captain for recent deadly attacks on journalists.

Thomas said he was aware that the attacks were just the latest in a string of murders involving journalists. He said the US considered the attacks as crimes against democracy and press freedom.

Police said vice mayor-elect Pacifico Velasco of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte, who is facing criminal charges for the murder of dzJC Aksyon Radio-Laoag anchorman Jovelito Agustin last June 15, has gone into hiding together with three suspects.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said the PNP Task Force Agustin filed the murder complaints with the Laoag City prosecutor’s office last Monday against Velasco and his bodyguard, alleged gunman Leonardo Banaag.

Separate frustrated murder charges were filed against Velasco, Banaag and two others, Ricky Acosta and John Carlo Valdemor, for the attack at the house of Agustin in Barangay Natba in Bacarra on May 7.

Investigators said Velasco was earlier convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan in connection with his official acts as mayor of Bacarra. Velasco has brought the case to the Supreme Court.

Last month, Velasco was confined at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Pasay City for hypertension. He has since disappeared.

Agustin and his nephew Joseph Agustin were on their way home on a motorcycle when two men, also on a motorcycle, shot them near the boundary of Laoag City and Bacarra.

Agustin, who was reportedly a vocal critic of Velasco, was hit four times in the body and died at a local hospital. His nephew survived.

Police filed the criminal charges based on testimonies and sworn statements of several witnesses.

Agustin’s wife Cherylle also said her husband had told her several times that if anything untoward happened to him, the suspect would be Velasco who harbored a personal grudge against the journalist.

Last May 7, men in a Toyota Corolla with license plate NGH 520 strafed Agustin’s house. Police said the vehicle was registered in the name of Velasco.

Agustin was one of three journalists killed within one week, affirming the Philippines’ status as one of the most dangerous places in the world for media workers.

Last June 14, radio broadcaster Desiderio Camangyan was shot dead while hosting an amateur singing contest in Barangay Macopa in Manay, Davao Oriental.

Camangyan, 52, anchorman of Sunrise FM radio based in Mati, Davao Oriental, was the 101st journalist killed during the administration of President Arroyo.

Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle also shot and killed 50-year-old newspaper reporter Nestor Bedolido outside a bar he owned in Digos, Davao del Sur last Saturday night.

Bedolido was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. He was a reporter of Kastigador, a weekly newspaper allegedly financed by a group of politicians, and his death might have been related to his work, police said.

Bedolido’s killing brings to 140 the number of journalists killed in the Philippines since the restoration of democracy in February 1986.

Cop, village chief charged for Davao killing

Task Force Usig chief Director Raul Bacalzo said murder charges were filed against Police Officer 1 Dennis Jess Esteban Lumikid of the Manay police station in Davao Oriental, and barangay chairman Romeo Antoling Sr., of Barangay Macopa in Manay town, for the murder of Camangyan.

Senior Superintendent Jose Jorge Corpus, chief of Task Force Camangyan, said witnesses have linked the two suspects to the murder.

“It has something to do with politics, and illegal logging, which had been the subject of Camangyan’s criticism,” Corpus said.

Last year was the bloodiest for Philippine journalists, with at least 30 of them among 57 people killed in the Maguindanao massacre on Nov. 23.

A gun culture, a freewheeling press and massive corruption are some of the factors that make the country dangerous for journalists.

Criminal gangs, politicians and other powerful interests typically murder journalists to silence them and intimidate other media workers.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJP) condemned the killings and called on incoming president Benigno Aquino III to solve the murders.

– With Jun Elias, Teddy Molina