EDITORIAL - Lawbreakers

A newly elected vice mayor, a policeman and a barangay captain are among the men who have been indicted for the latest spate of deadly attacks on journalists. Vice mayor-elect Pacifico Velasco of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte has gone into hiding after murder charges were filed against him for the killing of dzJC anchorman Jovelito Agustin last week. The suspected triggerman, Leonardo Banaag, is Velasco’s bodyguard.

In Davao Oriental, murder charges were filed against Police Officer 1 Dennis Jess Esteban Lumikid and barangay chairman Romeo Antoling Sr. for the killing of Desiderio Camangyan, anchorman of Sunrise FM Radio. Camangyan was murdered a day before Agustin, while hosting a singing contest at a town fiesta.

Last Saturday night, newspaper reporter Nestor Dedolido was shot dead outside a bar he owned in Digos, Davao del Sur. No charges have been filed.

The only positive development here is that suspects have been indicted, although all are at large. Other murder cases have languished for years with the killers – both the triggermen and brains – remaining unidentified. Even when there are witnesses, people are often scared to testify in murder cases. The suspects in the latest killings show why: a barangay chairman, a cop and a vice mayor – the individuals who are tasked to uphold the law and keep the public safe – are the ones who break the law with impunity.

It then becomes a vicious cycle: with uncooperative witnesses and few leads to work on, investigators are unable to solve killings. Seeing murderers get away with their crime, others are emboldened to deal with critical journalists in the same permanent way. This culture of impunity has been reinforced over the past decades, with some 140 journalists murdered since democracy was restored in 1986. It has been said often enough: the only way to end the culture of impunity is to bring the murderers to justice.