BY THE NUMBERS:
ATTACKS AG A GAINST THE PRESS* BY PAUL DAWNSON M. FORMARAN
He was more more than his dead body body, like all the journalists who have died died before him. him. “That’s him,” his common-law wife confirmed. But it was no longer him, lying there in a coffin. The people sitting on a narrow nar row bench and the people passing through or standing beside the coffin barely fit the alley where they held the funeral. His mother was sitting at the other end, mourning her third child who had died before her her..
*As of October 2013
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THREATS “I told him to stop it with the tabloid business,” his mother said in a hushed voice. Bonifacio Loreto Jr. must have known it was coming. He had received death threats like the others. His family was fearful but he went on anyway. Loreto had just come out with the irst issue of Aks of Aksyon yon Ngayo Ngayon n, a tabloid he published and wrote for as a columnist. Like many other tabloids in the country, the irst issue devoted the bulk of its four pages to police crime stories, jueteng, rape and other sexual offences. The paper opened its pages during the campaign period of the 2013 mid-term elections. Like many designed to win votes for this or that candidate, it would probably have closed after the election. But Loreto would not live long enough to release his second issue. The story is typical. Many tabloids have the short life tied to the campaign funds fueling the election. Such tabloids are seen as petty partisan rags which in the ield of electoral competition are enough of a threat to some parties, provoking fatal attacks from those they cross. Loreto is just one of the eight Filipino journalists and media workers killed for their work this year. Several more were attacked and threatened as victims of the violence that contaminates local politics.
REPORTED INCIDENTS
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As of October this year, there were 66 reported incidents of attacks and threats against journalists and media workers in 2013 while there were 39 reported incidents in 2012, when there was no elections. This count does not include the killing of journalists. Attacks and threats happen in various ways. Not all incidents rise from the heat of elections. Some involve actions as “simple” as reporters’ being barred from covering the canvassing of votes during elections, while some were as alarming as a blocktimer’s home being shot at twice, after he was arrested for libel without a warrant and without a case being iled.
“Blocktimers” are broadcasters who buy blocks of time from radio stations or cable TV channels to air their programs. They usually pay for the “blocktime” through sponsors, some of whom are politicians, some advertisers.
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BY THE NUMBERS: ATTACKS NUMBERS: ATTACKS AND THREATS AGAINST THE PRESS The bulk of these incidents happened in Metro Manila, where practitioners have long been thought to be immune from such attacks. Fifteen incidents were reported of journalists attacked and threatened in the capital region, an area regarded as safer than the provinces. Nine incidents happened in the Bicol Region (Region V) and eight in Central Luzon (Region III). Ten of the 17 incidents of attacks and threats in these two regions involved radio workers. Nine occurred while covering this year’s elections.
AGAINST RADIO WORKERS
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Of the total 66 incidents during the year, 32 were against radio workers. Nineteen of these 32 incidents were election-related. This trend seems to relect a inding of a study by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center on political dynasties. The AIM Policy Center study released in March found a relationship between political dynasties and the number of AM radio stations. Where the political dynasty held less positions in local government, there were more AM radio stations operating, relecting greater level of competition among political forces in the province. Where there are “fat” dynasties, there is less radio, less competing voices in the media. In a blog post from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), AIM Policy Center executive director, Professor Ronald Mendoza, deined a “fat” dynasty as “one that has been able to expand across several elective positions simultaneously. For example, a political family may have, at any one time, a member in Congress, in the provincial capitol, in the municipal halls, and in the town councils.” Mendoza identiies the presence of a critical radio broadcasting as a factor that prevents a political dynasty from expanding, allowing other newer, political dynasties to compete. “(The political dynasties can’t expand) it seems, according to the results we are seeing,” Mendoza was quoted as saying in the PCIJ blog post. “Media are leveling the playing ield by providing information.” The impact of radio stations on politics should be analyzed more to establish a connection to the level of violence against journalists.
The number of election-related attacks and threats this year is bigger than the total number of alerts from the last two election years combined. In 2007, the Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility (CMFR) reported only nine election-related incidents and only ive in 2010. This drastic increase could be due to journalists’ and media workers’ being more aware that they have to report press freedom violations that they witness or experience, even in the face of danger and the culture of impunity that protects perpetrators of violations. On the eve of the May 13 elections, the crew of the TV news programRonda program Ronda Balita in Balita in Ozamis City, City, northern Mindanao, was trying to catch a rumored mass vote-buying activity at a seaside village. But the convoy of then-mayoralty candidate Rolando Romero stopped them. Romero and his security aides also destroyed the news crew’s equipment when the producer tried to interview him. Not content, Romero allegedly tried to shoot at one cameraman. But when his pistol misired, the group mauled the media worker instead. The politician’s ally later said Romero had only “defended himself.” After election-day, Commission on Elections (COMELEC) oficials barred reporters from the canvassing of votes in the provinces of Northern Samar in the Visayas and Aurora in Southern Luzon. Election oficials in both provinces asked reporters for their COMELEC accreditations. But the reporters were still barred even when they complied. When the reporters complained, COMELEC chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. Jr. advised them to ile a complaint with the police.
CRIMINAL LIBEL CHARGES
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Libel charges also present a danger to journalists and media workers reporting campaigns and elections. There were 11 cases of libel in 2013. Four libel suits were iled this year against radio anchors and commentators for their coverage of the local elections in their areas. But libel is a constant threat. Five more were iled against other journalists and media workers for their coverage of corruption and other illegal activities. There were also two journalists convicted this year for libel complaints iled years ago. Philippine law criminalizes libel, imposing a ine, up to six years imprisonment, or both, on those found guilty. guilty. It has been used to threaten, restrain and harass journalists and media workers.
Libel on World Press Freedom Day On May 3, Friday, right on World Press Freedom Day, Police Director Supt. Reynaldo Maclang barged into a radio booth in Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte, and arrested blocktimer Rodolfo “Maxbans” Tanquis for libel, without a complaint iled or even an arrest warrant. Tanquis was detained until a libel case was iled against him on a Saturday. Saturday. Curiously, the Ofice of the City Prosecutor was open on a weekend. Rodolfo posted PHP10,000 bail and went into hiding.
CMFR’s Appeal 2013 ELECTIONS
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The elections held in May this year account for the increase from last year’s in the number of attacks and threats against journalists and media workers. Of this year’s incidents, 25 were election-related. Reporters were prevented from helping ensure clean and transparent elections.
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On May 6, CMFR wrote the Secretary of Interior and Local Government, Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, urging him to take the necessary action against the police director’s warrantless arrest of the blocktimer. Roxas sent a reply dated May 9 saying he had “asked Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General (DG) Alan Purisima to cause an exhaustive, fair and objective investigation of the incident by an independent fact-inding team.”
In a separate letter, 18 members of the global free expression network IFEX urged President Benigno Aquino III to “ile the necessary charges against Maclang.” The President, through his executive secretary replied on May 17 saying “steps have already been taken by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to address the concerns.” DILG’s assurances and the media freedom advocates’ pleas went sadly unheeded. Tanquis’ enemies weren’t through with him. On May 31, unidentiied individuals ired gunshots at his house and the radio station where he worked. Tanquis was not at home when it happened, but his family was. No one was hurt. Just ive days later, later, on June 5, his house was ired at again.
Dangerous Precedent However, the response from the Ofice of the City Prosecutor in Dipolog City was contrary to both the prompt promises from the DILG and the President. In a reply to the copy of the appeal sent by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression to the DOJ Action Center, the Dipolog City prosecutor argued that the warrantless arrest of the blocktimer for libel was valid under the Philippine’s Rules of Criminal Procedure. “The arrest without warrant. . .was validly made as (Tanquis) was caught in lagrante (caught while committing the crime) by Supt. Reynaldo Maclang. . .probable cause exist (sic) to indict (Tanquis) (T anquis) for the crime of Libel and he is probably guilty thereof, hence, an information for Libel was iled against him now pending trial,” the City Prosecutor’s letter said. Asked to comment, Prima Quinsayas, legal counsel for the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists Inc. (FFFJ), said that the City Prosecutor’s interpretation of the law “borders on the absurd and, if left unchallenged, may set a dangerous precedent” implying that the arresting oficer could bypass the investigative prosecutor or judge in deining what libel is.
In April 17, Pedrano had interviewed then mayoralty candidate Ruel “Balong” Molina, Cerilles’ opponent, about the ambush killing of Molina’s 22-year old niece on April 16. In the transcript of the interview attached to the subpoena as evidence, Molina alleged that Cerilles and Cerilles’ wife, former Zambaonga del Sur governor and now congresswoman Aurora Enerio-Cerilles, had “without doubt” the motive to carry out the ambush. “I said we should wait for the results of the investigation (on the ambush) and that we are open for Cerilles to air his side. Cerilles’ staff said they would address Molina’s allegations through their own radio stations and blocktime programs,” Pedrano told CMFR last June 25. He scrambled to get a lawyer to help write the counter-afidavit that he needed to ile 15 days after he was served the complaint. Otherwise, he would have had to concede to the facts presented in the governor’s libel complaint. Pedrano was able to submit the counter-afidavit after being granted an extension from the Pagadian City prosecutor. But he still did not have a lawyer to defend him if the case goes to trial.
THE KILLINGS
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If journalists were not silenced with criminal libel complaints, they were being silenced with guns. Ten journalists and media workers were killed this year, eight in the line of duty. This brings the total of work-related media killings in the Philippines to 137 since 1986. In the threeyear administration of Benigno S. Aquino III, 19 have been killed. The modus operandi in the eight killings is almost always the same; a gunman riding tandem on an unlicensed motorcycle. There are exceptions, one assailant was on foot and in another case, there were two gunmen.
Edgardo “Egay” Adajar FFFJ was founded in 2003 to assist in the prosecution of the killers of journalists and to provide humanitarian assistance to the families of slain journalists and media workers. It is composed of CMFR, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), PCIJ, and the Philippine Press Institute. CMFR serves as its technical and administrative secretariat. secretariat.
In July, Tanquis told CMFR that his lawyer, Reinaldo Ramas, had iled a motion for the criminal charge to be dropped. The City Prosecutor asked for 15 days to review the motion. In September, Ramas told CMFR that the motion was denied. The trial for libel will push through.
For Conducting an Interview As libel charges weighed down on Tanquis, another radio broadcaster in the next province was also being sued for libel. This time, it was not for statements deemed libelous by the complainants. A mere interview conducted on his program had caused Lito Pedrano a libel suit. Radio anchor Lito Pedrano sent a message to CMFR via Facebook last June asking for help. Zamboanga del Sur governor Antonio Cerilles had iled a libel complaint against an election opponent, implicating Pedrano for “using his (Pedrano’s) radio program in airing (my opponent’s) libelous remarks. remarks.””
Edgardo “Egay” Adajar anchored a government-supported blocktime radio program in San Pablo City, Laguna. He was also a city councilor. He was supposed to run again for ofice this last election but he was murdered right at the beginning of the year. On January 2, Adajar and his bodyguard, Leonardo Ronaldo, were shot in front of a cockpit in the village of Concepcion. They were walking back to their vehicle when they were attacked. The gunman escaped on an unregistered motorcycle with a companion. Adajar and Ronaldo were brought to a hospital nearby. Adajar, with a gunshot wound in the head and right thigh, was dead on arrival. Ronaldo, who also sustained a gunshot wound in the head, died later without providing any information on the identity of the killer killer.. Adajar, according to his colleagues and the police, regularly criticized various people on radio, among them his political opponents; individuals alleged to be involved in illegal gambling (or misuse of funds sourced from the small-town lottery); and allegedly corrupt policemen involved in the illegal-drug trade. On Dec. 29, 2012, Adajar reported a death threat to the police, when then mayoralty candidate Hizon Arago allegedly threatened Adajar while both were attending a seminar. Cartographic sketches sketches of the gunman and his accomplice have been distributed. PHP800,000 was offered to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. But no one has been arrested to date.
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BY THE NUMBERS: ATTACKS NUMBERS: ATTACKS AND THREATS AGAINST THE PRESS Miguelito “Mike” Rueras Miguelito “Mike” Rueras reported for a Cebu radio station from Pio V. Corpuz, a partly Cebuano-speaking town in Masbate. But he stopped during the elections to support and volunteer for a gubernatorial candidate. On June 2, Sunday morning, Rueras was shot dead in his store. He was with a friend who happened to be a police oficer a few moments before the shooting. But the policeman left for a while to secure people leaving a nearby church. Rueras’s family recalled that unidentiied men had been looking for Rueras three days before the killing, Senior Inspector Rodel Arevalo told CMFR, but the family thought they were just friends of Rueras. In August, the police told CMFR that the suspected gunman had been found murdered in the nearby town of Esperanza. A witness identiied the suspect only by looking at a photo of the suspect’s corpse.
Bonifacio Loreto Jr. & Richard Kho
Sy is the second Sapol contributor and the fourth tabloid newspaper worker to be killed in General Santos City since 2010.
Fernando “Nanding” Solijon Fernando “Nanding” Solijon was a radio commentator in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. He hosted the program Sandiganan Sandiganan,, which aired weekday mornings on a local FM station. In Solijon’s broadcast on August 29, which aired several hours before he was killed, a caller cursed Solijon on air. Solijon also read on air a death threat sent to him via text, according to his technician. The text message read, “Your cofin’s already made.” Later that day, at around 10:30 p.m., Solijon was shot dead. He was about to head home after some beer and dinner with colleagues when two men riding a motorcycle gunned him down. One of the gunmen threatened to shoot a colleague who tried to interfere. “It was really work-related,” case investigator Senior Police Oficer Melvin Denore told CMFR one day after the killing. “He was a famous commentator talking about politics. That’s not a safe thing (to do) here in Mindanao. Mindanao.”” Over half-a-million pesos was offered to anyone who could give information leading to the arrest of the suspects.
Bonifacio Loreto Jr. and Richard Kho were columnists for Aksyon for Aksyon Ngayon,, a tabloid that had had only one issue. Loreto, who had Ngayon other businesses and was relatively new in the media, was also Vergel Bico its publisher. According to Loreto’s common-law wife, Nora, the men were already planning to rent an ofice and to release a Vergel Bico was an editor and publisher of Kalahi newspaper in second issue. Calapan City, Mindoro. Late at night on July 31, Loreto and Kho were standing in front In the afternoon of September 4, Bico was riding his motorcycle of Loreto’s small store in Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. in Barangay Pachoca, when an unidentiied man riding tandem They were with Loreto’s store aide when two men on a motorcycle on a motorcycle, shot him twice in the head. shot them. In TV interviews, the store aide said he survived the Calapan City Police Chief Inspector D’Artagnan Katalbas Jr. shooting by pretending to be dead. He has since gone back to the told CMFR on September 5 that the motive might be a personal province, his location unknown according to Nora. grudge, although they are still considering the possibility that it The police initially said that the killing was probably not is related to his work as a journalist. related to the victims’ work. But Nora, as well as Loreto’s mother, mother, Ronald Bula, publisher of Bandera Pilipino where Pilipino where Bico was a insisted that if Loreto had just heeded their warning not to get columnist, said that Bico last wrote a column in December 2012 involved in the media, he would still be alive. and the subjects he usually discussed were those related to CMFR has yet to contact Kho’s family. But in TV interviews, illegal gambling. Kho’s daughter, Richelle, also said that the murder was workBula said Bico told him he had received several threats before related. from some government oficials and other subjects of his columns. On August 13, the police iled charges against Clemente Bersoza and Roel Manaog for the murder. Witnesses identiied the suspects, Jesus “Jessie” Tabanao Tabanao police said, after going through the mug iles of people with criminal records. Senior police oficer Pascual Fabreag, case investigator, told Jessie Tabanao hosted the programs Police Line Up Up and Drug CMFR last August 16 that the police have yet to establish the motive Watch Watch that aired weekends on dyRC Cebu 648. At the same for the killing since the suspects have not been apprehended. time, he worked as information oficer for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region VII. Just before midnight, on September 14, an unidentiied Mario Sy man shot Tabanao and took off on a motorcycle. Tabanao was Mario Sy was a freelance photographer and photojournalist supposed to be on his way to fetch his wife, Katrina. Katrina, who in General Santos City, South Cotabato. He contributed to the was eight months pregnant, was out celebrating a friend’s win tabloid newspaper Sapol News Bulletin. as Miss Press Freedom, part of the city’s Press Freedom Week Bulletin. On August 1, less than 48 hours after the last media killing, Sy, annual celebration every September. who was watching TV, was shot dead inside his home, in front of his Tabanao’s colleagues “condemn in the strongest terms the teenage daughter. The gunman left the scene and walked away. senseless and brutal killing.” A statement from the Manila Sy’s family and colleagues believe Sy was killed because he was Broadcasting Company and Cebu Broadcasting Company, Company, parent vocal against the proliferation of illegal drugs in his community. companies of dyRC, said that it is “ironic that (Tabanao) was ’s publisher John Paul Jubelag told CMFR on August 2 killed while Cebu is celebrating Broadcasters’ Month and a few Sapol ’s that Sy had contributed a photo report of a drug-related killing hours before the opening of the Press Freedom Week (in the sometime in January or February this year year.. city).”
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