Media groups call for full investigation of Kidapawan murders
Posted by: Vinia Datinguinoo | June 21, 2006 at 10:52 am
Filed under: In the News, Journalist Killings, Media
MEDIA groups have condemned the Monday murders of a husband and wife who both worked as journalists, in Kidapawan, North Cotabato, and have called for a full investigation of the case.
George Vigo, who wrote for local papers and the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), and his wife, Macel Alave-Vigo, who hosted a program on radio dxND, were gunned down while on their way home at around 5 pm on June 19.
George, 32, was project director of Community Family Services, an international NGO working with displaced families in North Cotabato. Macel, 37, was a media liaison officer of North Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Santos.
Kidapawan police said the couple were on their way home from the city’s public market when two men on board a motorcycle shot them.
While recognizing that it is still unclear whether or not the two had been killed because of their media work, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for a full investigation of the murders, and said the Arroyo government “simply must do more to protect journalists and their families.”
“How many journalists have to die before the president of the Philippines takes concrete, decisive and meaningful action to stop the slaughter?” said IFJ president Christopher Warren.
The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) said it will conduct further investigation of the murders, stressing that it is still not known if indeed George and Macel were killed for their media work.
CMFR has repeatedly needled the Arroyo government to address the issue of violent attacks against journalists. Recently, its executive director, Melinda Quintos de Jesus, again said the government must “undertake extraordinary measures” to pursue the killers of journalists and activists. She said the official “inertia” encourages the attacks.
The CMFR counts 59 journalists who have been killed in the line of duty since 1986, the last of whom was Palawan radio broadcaster, Fernando Batul. Batul was killed in Puerto Princesa on May 22.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres or RSF), meanwhile, also decried the latest killings. “The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists,” RSF said. “We call on the police to deploy all the necessary resources to identify and punish those responsible for these murders.”
Read the statements of RSF and IFJ.
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[...] The people will be alienated more from its own government when the same allows them to be killed rather than defend and seek justice for them. Justice to a husband and wife also recently killed in Kidapawan: George and Mazel Vigo and to all the defenceless journalists! [...]