Journalist shot dead; 1st under new government
By Charlie Lagasca (The Philippine Star) Updated July 05, 2010 12:00 AM
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BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – A 75-year-old radio commentator was shot dead in his home in
Tabuk City over the weekend, the first journalist murdered during the Aquino administration.
Police said a lone gunman attacked Jose Daguio, reporter and commentator of Radyo Natin and columnist
of a community newspaper. Daguio succumbed to multiple injuries while being treated at the provincial
hospital.
Police investigators led by Jose Calendario said the gunman entered Daguio’s house in Barangay Tuga in
the city on Saturday night and shot the victim at close range with a 12-gauge shotgun.
“We are still investigating the case as to the identity of the suspect and possible motives behind the killing,”
Calendario said.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said they were waiting
for the local police report on the murder.
Daguio was the first journalist to be killed under the five-day-old Aquino administration, and possibly the
oldest to be slain in the line of duty.
More than 100 journalists were killed in the country during the nine-year administration of former President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The killings of journalists were among the issues expected to be addressed by President Aquino.
Alarmed by the increasing number of journalists getting murdered, Arroyo ordered the PNP to form Task
Force Usig to address media killings.
The task force said they have received 76 cases of reported attacks against members of the media. As it
turned out, only 39 cases were confirmed to be work-related while 30 others were personal and seven were
not directed at legitimate members of the media.
Of the 39 work-related attacks, 33 of them had been prosecuted, with four convictions and six still pending
investigation.
The attack on Daguio came after another journalist, Jerome Tabanganay survived an attacked by
unidentified men on May 15.
Tabanganay was about to report for work for the state-owned dzRK Radyo ng Bayan in Tabuk when
unidentified gunmen shot him.
Tabanganay managed to survive the attack by running inside the radio station even after sustaining gunshot
wounds on his right leg and knee.
International groups had ranked the Philippines among the high-risk countries for journalists. -With Cecille
Suerte Felipe
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Activist killed in Aklan
By Cecille Suerte Felipe (The Philippine Star) Updated July 06, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - A day after a journalist was killed in Tabuk City in Nueva Vizcaya, a coordinator of
militant group Bayan Muna was shot dead yesterday morning in Kalibo town in Aklan.
Fernando Baldomero, a municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan and at the same time provincial coordinator of the
Makabayan Coalition, is the first militant killed since President Aquino was sworn into office on June 30.
An attempt was made on Baldomero’s life early this year when a grenade was thrown at his house in
Barangay Sta. Cruz Bigaa, Lezo, Aklan by two men on a motorcycle.
According to initial reports, Baldomero was in front of his house trying to start his motorcycle to bring his
child to school when he was shot by two unidentified men.
The gunmen, armed with a 9mm pistol and long firearms, fled on a black motorcycle with no license plates.
Senior Superintendent Epifanio Bragais, director of the Aklan Provincial Police, said Baldomero suffered
gunshot wounds in his head and neck and was brought to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), through secretary-general Renato Reyes, condemned
the killing and asked the President to “use the full force of the law to arrest the perpetrators.”
Reyes said the President must send a clear message to state security forces that these killings have to end
and perpetrators will be prosecuted.
“Heads must roll in the AFP, otherwise the climate of impunity will continue,” Reyes said.
Karapatan chair Marie
Hilao-Enriquez, on the other hand, said the incident follows the announcement of the new three-year counter-
insurgency plan by the newly installed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo
David.
Established in 1995, Karapatan monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, and assists and
defends victims.
“Neither Gen. David nor President Noynoy have called to stop the killings and to end the culture of impunity
that still prevails,” Enriquez said.
“The lack of declaration from President Noynoy to stop the killings and impunity, coupled by Gen. David’s
pronouncement of another deadline to end insurgency, and this new wave of political killings, signals that
former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya, is still
enforced under Mr. Aquino’s term and has not let up on targeting progressive individuals,” Enriquez said.
She also noted that in June, seven individuals were killed, including an Ampatuan massacre witness, and
last week, a former lawyer of the Mangudadatus was ambushed.
“We are concerned that the calls for justice and the ending of impunity will only fall on deaf ears,” expressed
Enriquez.
“More than the ban on wang-wang, President Aquino must also issue a categorical order to stop the culture
of impunity and put to end the atrocities of Oplan Bantay Laya implemented by the AFP.”
Like Bayan, Karapatan calls on the present administration to immediately conduct an investigation, and to
arrest and punish the perpetrators of the Baldomero killing.
“The total and complete justice announcement of Aquino is nothing if the political killing and impunity are still
prevalent and continuing,” Enriquez concluded.
Last week, newly appointed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima vowed to put an end to the unexplained killings
that have been widely criticized by other governments and human rights groups.
Karapatan has said that over 900 activists critical of government, including students and labor leaders, have
been killed in the past nine years.
The assassinations were normally carried out by gunmen on motorcycles.
A long list of victims
In its annual report on human rights worldwide in March, the US State Department cited such killings in the
Philippines during the tenure of former president Arroyo.
It mentioned “arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the security services and political
killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors.”
In 2007, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, Philip Alston, and a Philippine
government fact-finding mission blamed the military for many of the killings. The military has consistently
denied the accusations.
Mrs. Arroyo created Task Force Usig in 2006, at the height of media and militant killings, to investigate and
go after perpetrators and ensure their prosecution.
Task Force Usig, in its investigation, has recorded a total of 119 validated cases of slain militants/activists
since 2001.
Of these cases, 64 were filed before the Prosecutor’s Office or with appropriate courts, 54 are under
investigation, and one was considered closed.
Out of the 64 cases filed, 21 were perpetrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army
(CPP/NPA), 12 cases involved military and paramilitary elements as suspects, four involved civilians who
allegedly are linked to the military, 26 cases were perpetrated by civilians, and another involved police
personnel.
As to the status of the 64 cases, 43 were already filed in court and 21 cases are still pending at the
Prosecutor’s Office.
There were 46 identified suspects involved in the killings of militants/activists, 17 of whom were arrested,
resulting in one conviction, while six were already dead, three have surrendered, one is under custody and
19 are still at large.
The year 2006 registered the most number of slain militants/activists, with 38 incidents. - Rhodina
Villanueva, Ronilo Pamonag
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