The killings of two journalists over consecutive days in the Philippines have bolstered the country's dubious claim of being the most dangerous country for journalists after Iraq.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) fears the high journalists' death toll that characterised the Philippines in 2005 will be repeated this year. "The wave of killings that has landed the Philippines as the most dangerous country for media practitioners after Iraq two years running looks to be continued into 2006," said IFJ president Christopher Warren. "These latest two murders only reinforce the serious concerns the IFJ has about journalists' safety in the Philippines," said Warren.
"The Philippines is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists outside of Iraq," Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "Only when murders are fully investigated and the killers quickly brought to justice can the country become safer for reporters and all citizens."
Unidentified gunmen shot dead radio broadcaster and political publicist Rolando Ca�ete, 60, on January 20 in the city of Pagadian, the Manila Times reported. The attackers fled on a motorcycle. Initial reports said assailants shot Ca�ete three times in the back while he was driving his own motorcycle in the city. The police have yet to establish a motive for the killing.
Ca�ete was a part-time broadcaster on three radio stations, two of which are controlled by congressman Antonio Cerilles and his wife provincial governor Aurora Cerilles, the reports said. Both politicians employed Ca�ete as their publicist. Residents said Ca�ete frequently criticised political opponents of the couple.
On January 21, gunmen shot dead newspaper columnist Graciano Aquino in the town of Morong, 84 km north of Manila. Aquino, 40, was standing inside the arena when armed men approached him and shot him at close range. The victim suffered two gunshot wounds in the nape. He was already dead when he was brought to the Morong rural health centre, the Manila Standard said.
Police believe that Aquino was killed by members of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines-Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan, a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples' Army operating in Central Luzon. Aquino was a former reporter of dzRH and was a columnist of the local paper Central Luzon Forum.
Another columnist of the Central Luzon Forum, Celso Medina of radio station dwIZ , suffered a heart attack upon learning of Aquino's killing. Medina, president of the Central Luzon Media Association, died Saturday night.
