DoJ decision in Palawan murder case slammed

The timing made it doubly painful.

Outrage greeted the justice department’s dismissal of criminal charges against a former provincial governor and five others tagged in the killing of Palawan broadcaster and environmentalist Gerry Ortega, a ruling that came out a day after another media person was murdered.

“To accept the Department of Justice (DoJ) resolution would be to encourage more media killings, and further promote the culture of impunity that already exists in the country,” said lawyer Harry Roque, counsel for Ortega’s widow Patria.

The lawyer on Wednesday drew notice to the DoJ resolution being “inauspiciously released the day after another broadcast journalist was shot dead in Camarines Sur.”

Roque was referring to Romeo Olea, a radio commentator based in Iriga City, who was shot dead early Monday morning on his way to radio station dwEB-FM.

“If it is not yet obvious by now, these developments highlight the fact that the Filipino journalist is under attack. When will our government learn to protect them?” Roque said following Tuesday’s release of a June 8 DoJ ruling clearing ex-Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and five others.

A three-member panel of the DoJ dismissed for lack of evidence the murder complaint against Reyes, his brother and Coron Mayor Marjo Reyes, former Marinduque Gov. Jose Antonio Carreon, former Palawan administrator Romeo Serratubias, Arturo Regalado and Percival Lecias.

But the panel approved the filing of a criminal case against Reyes’ former security aide Rodolfo “Bumar” Edrad Jr., Armando Noel, Dennis Aranas and Arwin Arandia.

‘Vindication’ hailed

In a statement, Reyes hailed the ruling as “a vindication of my consistent claim that I had nothing to do with the killing of Doc Gerry Ortega.”

Allegations linking him to the murder were just “orchestrated and financed by my political opponents,” the former governor said.

“As they say, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly well,” he added.

Roque said a motion for recommendation would be filed by the victim’s widow Patria, who had accused Reyes of masterminding the Jan. 24 attack on her husband.

In her complaint, Patria said only Reyes had the motive to have Ortega killed. The broadcaster had criticized Reyes for the latter’s purported inability to stop mining companies in Palawan from violating environmental laws.

Ortega was shot at close range inside a clothing store in Puerto Princesa. The confessed gunman was arrested moments later and charged.

“We refuse to accept the resolution of the DoJ that found probable cause against the hired killers, but absolved the principal or mastermind who contracted their services,” Roque stressed.

Robredo at Olea wake

Also on Wednesday, the family of slain Camarines Sur broadcaster Romeo Olea received personal assurances from Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo that justice would be served.

Robredo visited Olea’s wake in Iriga City and spent about 20 minutes with the widow Raquel, telling her to call him directly for whatever help her family may need.

Olea was the sixth media person killed under the Aquino administration and the 145th since democracy was restored in 1986, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. Olea was also the second journalist of dzEB-FM to be killed in less than a year.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Jester Angelo, Olea’s elder child, said his father had often reminded him to be conscious about security whenever they went out together.

“He would not let me use his motorcycle because he said I might be mistaken for him,” said Jester, 20.

The night before the murder, in fact, his father scolded him for coming home very late in the wee hours, he said.

‘A genius’

Jester said his father, whom he admired for being “a genius,” tried to explain the need for caution by telling him about his exposés.

“Even though I have accepted the fact that this incident (Olea’s murder) might happen anytime, it is still very painful to lose a father,” he said.

A varsity athlete, Jester said he would miss his father when he graduates with a degree in restaurant management in March next year.

Meanwhile, Iriga City Mayor Madelaine Alfelor Gazmen called up the Inquirer to clarify that Olea did not single out the politically entrenched Alfelor clan in his biting commentaries on dwEB-FM.

Gazmen was reacting to statements made on Tuesday by Jing Florece, the station’s acting assistant manager, in the course of recounting Olea’s most recent topics in his program before he got killed.

The mayor said she remembered Olea tackling a variety of subjects such as the move of Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella to carve a new province out of Camarines Sur, the communist New People’s Army and local projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.