Senate urged to probe media killings

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III pressed the Senate on Tuesday to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation on the spate of media killings in the wake of a recent murder of a local radio broadcaster in Bohol.

Pimentel, chairman of the Senate committee on justice, recently filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the media killings mostly in Mindanao in order to get to the bottom of the worsening cases.

He also called on police authorities to exert extra effort in arresting the killers of media practitioners “because we cannot allow impunity to reign specially at the expense of press freedom.”

Pimentel issued the call as he denounced the ambush-slaying of Maurito Lim of Tagbilaran, saying the “savage” media attack again blotted the country’s image being among the five most dangerous places for journalists in the world.

The senator also expressed dismay at the slow resolution of work-related killings, listed by press watchdogs at 80 journalists since 1992, and at the failure of authorities to arrest the murder suspects and their accomplices.

The gunmen, he said, have either escaped or remained at large and the police investigating the murders were usually facing a blank wall because of the refusal of witnesses to cooperate for fear of their own lives.

While the Philippines has improved its ranking in the latest World Press Freedom Index , from 149th place last year to 141st among 180 countries, Pimentel said, “Police inability to resolve pending murder cases and the increase in new media attacks would again pull the country down.”

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