Philippines / Asia

DECEMBER 1, 2005 Posted: December 7, 2005 George Benaojan, DYBB and Bantay Balita KILLED—UNCONFIRMED An unidentified gunman killed radio and newspaper journalist Benaojan in the central city of Cebu before fleeing in a taxi. Benaojan, 27, died at a local hospital shortly afterward, according to international news reports.

New York, November 21, 2005—Unknown assailants shot and killed two journalists in separate incidents over a three-day period. Newspaper reporter Robert Ramos died Sunday night after being shot twice in the head outside a market in Cabuyao, Laguna province, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the capital, Manila. Radio announcer Ricardo “Ding” Uy, known for…

NOVEMBER 20, 2005 Posted: December 2, 2005 Robert Ramos, Katapat KILLED—UNCONFIRMED Ramos, 39, a reporter for the weekly tabloid, was shot twice in the head outside a market in Cabuyao, Laguna province, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the capital, Manila. Ramos was waiting for a ride home from work when two motorcycle-riding assailants shot…

NOVEMBER 18, 2005 Posted: December 2, 2005 Ricardo “Ding” Uy, DZRS-AM KILLED—UNCONFIRMED Radio announcer Uy, known for his leftist political activities, was killed by a gunman outside his home in Sorsogon City, Sorsogon province, 230 miles (375 kilometers) southeast of Manila.

OCTOBER 4, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Danilo Aguirre, Mindanao Bulletin ATTACKED Aguirre was shot and seriously wounded in General Santos City on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao but escaped death because his attacker’s gun jammed. Aguirre, a business and features writer for the weekly Mindanao Bulletin, was walking to work with photographer Emmanuel…

New York, October 4, 2005—A newspaper reporter was shot and seriously wounded today in General Santos City on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao but escaped death because his attacker’s gun jammed. Danilo Aguirre, a business and features writer for the weekly Mindanao Bulletin, was walking to work with photographer Emmanuel Zaldimar when a hooded…

More than three years have passed since journalist Edgar Damalerio was fatally shot on a crowded street in the port city of Pagadian on the southern island of Mindanao.

JULY 25, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 DXVR-FM, Radio Mindanao Network LEGAL ACTION Jose Galario Jr., mayor of Valencia City on the southern island of Mindanao, ordered the closure of the local radio station, revoked its business license, and threatened to press charges against acting manager Jaos Dignos.

The pivotal role of the Philippine press in the nation’s history is a point of pride among journalists. The newspaper La Solidaridad, published in Spain and distributed to intellectual reformers in the Philippines, was a mouthpiece for revolutionary sentiment against the Spanish at the end of the 19th century. One of its principal contributors, the author and national hero José Rizal, was executed by the Spanish in 1896 for being the intellectual inspiration for the independence movement.