2 slain Phl mediamen join ‘Newseum’ roster

CARSON CITY, Los Angeles – Two murdered Filipino journalists are the latest addition to the Washington-based Newseum’s list of members of the press killed in the line of duty across the globe.

The Newseum is an interactive museum of media and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Its name is a play on the words “news” and “museum.” The seven-level, 250,000-square-foot museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries.

Photos of the late radio commentators Romeo Olea of dwEB in Bicol and Gerardo Ortega of dzXL in Palawan are prominently displayed in one of the museum’s galleries, along with those of other slain journalists from around the world.

Also in the list are the names of 37 Mindanao-based journalists killed in the infamous Maguindanao massacre in 2009. The principal suspects in the massacre, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and his son and namesake, are on trial for the murders.

Olea, a local hard-hitting radio commentator in Bicol, was shot twice in the back while on his way to work in Iriga City on a motorcycle in June this year.

His widow said he had been getting death threats prior to the shooting.

Ortega, a vocal anti-mining advocate, was gunned down near the radio station in Puerto Princesa City where he had a daily radio program. The principal suspects in the killing – former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Coron Mayor Mario Reyes – were believed to be hiding in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines assured the Washington-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) of its full cooperation in addressing human rights abuses in the country.

In a dialogue with Jessica Evans and Carlos Conde at the HRW’s main office on Connecticut Avenue, AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the military is working closely with concerned agencies in dealing with human rights cases involving members of the uniformed services.

In return, Burgos and Philippine Army (PA) spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc got an assurance from HRW that it is also monitoring human rights cases perpetrated by rebel groups like the New People’s Army (NPA).

Evans asked the two military officers to provide HRW with verifiable data on human rights abuses committed by the rebels not only against the soldiers but also against civilians, particularly the recent beheading of a barangay councilman in Bicol reportedly by NPA fighters.

Explaining the delays in the prosecution of human rights cases involving soldiers, Burgos and Cabunoc said it’s the judiciary that sets the direction and progress of such cases.

But Evans reminded the two officers that it’s the unwillingness or failure of the military to cooperate that has stalled many human rights cases.

She cited a two-year-old case in Mindanao in which the military has yet to present before the court a soldier charged with murder.

“The case is now back to square one because the judge handling the case has retired without the suspect being arraigned,” Evans said.