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Philippines

2011


Journalists die at high rates while covering protests in the Arab world and elsewhere. Photographers and freelancers appear vulnerable. Pakistan is again the deadliest nation. A CPJ special report

In Egypt, protesters demanding democratic change gather in Tahrir Square. (AFP)

Bangkok, November 28, 2011--A Philippine radio journalist who reported critically on local corruption and drug trafficking was shot and seriously wounded on November 24, a day after the International Day to End Impunity was commemorated.

Umar Cheema, left, of Pakistan and Javier Valdez Cárdenas of Mexico, both 2011 International Press Freedom Award winners, are all too familiar with the culture of impunity. (CPJ)

Last night, hundreds of journalists and members of New York's press freedom community met at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan for the Committee to Protect Journalists' XXI annual International Press Freedom Awards. At the event--celebrating the extraordinary courage of five journalists from across the globe--guests and award recipients unanimously expressed their commitment to fighting impunity in the murders of journalists.

New York, October 19, 2011--A radio commentator and anti-mining tribal activist who was scheduled to launch a new radio station program in a few days was gunned down in the southern Philippines on October 14, news reports said

New York, October 7, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the fatal shooting of newspaper editor Johnson Pascual and calls on Philippine authorities to investigate the case and prosecute the perpetrators.

Bangkok, September 23, 2011--Philippine authorities should launch an investigation into the abduction of radio commentator Louie Larroza's daughter, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Larroza told reporters the kidnapping was a "warning" for his radio broadcasts, news reports said. The journalist's daughter, unharmed, was freed eight hours later.

New York, August 24, 2011--Police in Negros Occidental province must thoroughly investigate Monday's murder of radio commentator Niel Jimena, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ is investigating the killing to determine whether it was work-related.

New York, June 13, 2011 -- Romeo Olea, a provincial radio commentator in the Philippines, was shot dead on his way to work Monday morning. Local and international media reports, quoting police sources, say Olea was shot twice in the back while riding his motorcycle to work in Iriga City in Camarines Sur province, about 480 miles (300 kilometers) from Manila.

CPJ’s 2011 Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

New York May 20, 2011--The Committee to protect Journalists is concerned by reports that a Philippines provincial radio announcer, Jun Albino of Magnum Music and News Radio 99.9 FM in Cagayan de Oro City, has received a text-message death threat. 

Former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., head of the Ampatuan clan, is a suspect in the Maguindanao massacre. (Reuters/Joseph Agcaoili)

Bangkok, May 12, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by an appeals court resolution in the Philippines that threatens to curb outside scrutiny of legal proceedings against suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, in which 32 journalists and media practitioners were systematically shot and murdered. 

Jose Pavia, a veteran journalist and tireless press freedom advocate, died on April 18 in the Philippines. Pavia, known simply as "JLP" among his friends and journalist colleagues, was a key partner in CPJ's Global Campaign Against Impunity. He was 72 and had been battling cancer.

New York, April 18, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the acquittal of a former police officer charged with the five-year-old murder of local Philippine radio anchor Fernando Batul.

New York, March 24, 2011--Manila police must thoroughly investigate the murder of radio anchor Maria Len Fores Somera, who was shot today near her home in Malabon City, a suburb of Manila.

Zaldy Ampatuan (AP)
New York, March 8, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is worried that a special five-judge panel named by the Philippines Court of Appeal in Manila will free the suspected mastermind behind the Maguindanao massacre, or release him on a technicality. Lawyers for Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have entered a plea for the charges against their client to be dropped.
Top Developments
• Flawed procedures, witness intimidation, bribes mar Maguindanao prosecution.
• Aquino pledges reform, but two more journalists are murdered for their work.

Key Statistic
3rd: Ranking on CPJ's Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world's worst records in solving press murders.


Trial proceedings began in September for the first 19 defendants in the 2009 massacre in Maguindanao province, raising hopes that impunity's grip on the Philippines would finally be loosened. But in a special report issued in November, CPJ uncovered efforts to subvert the judicial process, including bribe offers to victims' families, and the use of intimidation and deadly violence against witnesses. CPJ's investigation also revealed deeply flawed forensic work and widespread lack of cooperation among law enforcement officials, both of which could hinder the prosecution.

This afternoon we sent out a press release announcing a $100,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support CPJ's Global Campaign Against Impunity. The campaign enters its third year in 2011, having achieved some significant successes, including high-level commitment to prosecute the killers of journalist in the Philippines and Russia. Our goal in the year ahead is to turn those commitments into results.

Police in the southern Philippine province of Palawan have an unusual head start in their investigation of Monday's murder of radio broadcaster Gerardo Ortega. They apprehended the assassin at the scene, with the help of local firefighters and bystanders, and an unusual amount of information about the killing is already in the public domain. 

New York, January 24, 2011--Police in southern Palawan province must thoroughly investigate the motives behind today's murder of Philippine radio broadcaster Gerardo Ortega, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

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Killed in Philippines

73 journalists killed since 1992

71 journalists murdered

64 murdered with impunity

Attacks on the Press 2012

3rd Impunity Index ranking, reflecting a terrible record in combating anti-press violence.

Country data, analysis »

Contact

Asia

Program Coordinator:
Bob Dietz

bdietz@cpj.org

Tel: 212-465-1004
ext. 140, 115
Fax: 212-465-9568

330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY, 10001 USA

Twitter: @cpjasia
Facebook: CPJ Asia Desk

Blog: Bob Dietz