Monday, October 09, 2006
Editorial: The wheels of justice
THE conviction of three of the assassins of hard hitting journalist Marlene Esperat last week was greeted with guarded welcome by journalists in the country and members of the international press.
It was one of the rare cases where the wheels of justice went full steam but admittedly only because of intense media glare from all over the world.
It should be noted that Esperat's murder was the 18th of the journalists killed under the Arroyo administration.
Hers was one of the 60 slayings of members of the local press since democracy was supposed to be has been restored following the 1986 Edsa revolt.
But the resolution of the Esperat murder case should go beyond the conviction of the assassins.
The masterminds, who remain at large, should suffer the same fate as their hatchet men.
While the Esperat murder case is just one leaf the book of media killings in the Philippines, it is hoped that it will finally serve as a new regime of press freedom in the country.
One leaf in the inglorious history of media killings in the country, while already assuring, is not the end of the story.
Justice should also be served to the scores of other journalists who were killed in the line of duty.
Regardless of motives, killing journalists is an anathema to press freedom.
Indeed, for a country which prides itself as having one of the freest presses in Asia, the continued killings and the continued failure of the government to resolve the rest of the cases will serve as a blackeye to the Arroyo administration.
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(October 9, 2006 issue)
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