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Monday, August 16, 2004
Arroyo orders lawmen to help stop attacks on media (12:00 pm)
MANILA -- Philippine President Arroyo on Monday ordered the police and justice department to work with the media to solve and stop a spate of attacks on journalists that has claimed six lives this year.
Arroyo said in a statement that "the violence committed against media practitioners has reached a point of serious concern," after the latest attack, the shooting of a radio broadcaster in the southern Philippines on Friday.
She praised House Speaker Jose de Venecia for offering two million pesos (35,900 dollars) to anyone who can give information that would uncover the identities of those behind the recent killings of journalists.
"I am directing the (national police) and the NBI (Justice Department's National Bureau of Investigation) to team up with media organizations nationally and locally to get to the root of these crimes and protect journalists under threat," Arroyo added.
Four radio broadcasters have been killed in the Philippines since July 31, and six have been gunned down so far this year. Other journalists have been fired upon as well although there is no sign that the attacks are connected.
Police are investigating whether the killings were all work-related and said they would ease restrictions on gun permits for journalists.
Over a hundred journalists held a rally at the national police headquarters on Monday to call for justice for their murdered colleagues. The leaders of the group, wearing black armbands saying "stop killing journalists," later met with police officials to air their concerns.
Forty-five Filipino journalists have been killed since democracy was restored in the Philippines after the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
The Philippines is considered as among the most dangerous places in the world for the working press, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. AFP
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