Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 1239

Introduced by Reps. TEDDY A. CASIÑO and NERI JAVIER

COLMENARES

RESOLUTION
DENOUNCING THE CONTINUING MEDIA KILLINGS AND URGING
PRESIDENT AQUINO TO CARRY OUT COMPREHENSIVE AND CONCRETE
ACTIONS TO BRING THE PERPETRATORS BEFORE THE BAR OF
JUSTICE

WHEREAS, on March 24, 2011, Malabon-based radio anchor Marlina “Len”

Flores-Sumera was shot in broad daylight on her way to work at the dzME
station. The gunman supposedly picked up the spent shell of the fatal bullet,
along with the victim’s belongings to simulate a petty crime, and calmly
walked away and rode a jeepney. The 45-year old Sumera was the first
Manila-based female journalist killed under the Aquino administration;

WHEREAS, exactly two months earlier, staunch environment defender and

radio commentator of RMN-Palawan Gerardo “Doc Gerry” Ortega was killed
by a lone gunman as he was going through a used-clothes store. Ortega was
a known critic of mining projects and is the second environmentalist, after
top botanist Leonard Co, to be murdered under President Benigno Aquino III;

WHEREAS, Bicol-based radio field reporter Miguel Belen was also shot on
July 9, 2010 and died 22 days later. This was followed by the gruesome
death of Abra radio announcer and teacher Cirilo Gallardo after being
stabbed 13 times with an icepick and a knife. Months earlier, the diocese-
owned radio station DZPA where Gallardo worked was fired at by unidentified
men;

WHEREAS, while government officials claim to have found leads and

suspects, the perpetrators of these killings have yet to be apprehended and
sent behind bars. Even the case of the infamous Ampatuan massacre,
wherein 58 individuals including 32 media workers were murdered, has
hardly moved;

WHEREAS, some have downplayed the killings by implying that the motives
were personal and not work-related, as in the case of Sumera. But as media
groups have pointed out, the land-related dispute that Sumera was involved
in was a subject of her radio program. A recently released statement by the
Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Center for Media Freedom and
Responsibility, Center for Community Journalism and Development,
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Selected faculty members of
the University of the Philippines-College of Mass Communication,
BusinessWorld, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines read, “Whether or not the killings of these
journalists were work-related, their murders and that of their colleagues as
well as fellow citizens are sorry indicators of the continuing erosion of the
rule of law… While there are other victims, journalist victims stand out
because they make news. However, the gains made to stop journalist killings
will not protect journalists alone, but will effectively redound to the greater
public safety of all citizens.”

WHEREAS, forming local task forces every time a journalist is killed is hardly
comprehensive action to address a larger problem of weak law enforcement
and a tolerated culture of impunity. In fact, statistics from the New York-
based Committee to Protect Journalists show that 71% of suspected “source
of fire” in murder cases are government officials. It is no wonder then that
gunmen have the audacity to kill in broad daylight, when they are protected
or even paid by those in power;

WHEREAS, there had been 143 cases of media killings post-Martial Law, 107
of which were committed under the administration of former President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. Four have been killed under President Benigno Aquino III;

WHEREAS, human rights group Karapatan already pointed out that

President Aquino’s administration is nothing but “a continuation of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo’s legacy of state
terror, political repression and economic exploitation.” Based on the group’s
data, extrajudicial killings under President Aquino’s first six months in office
surpassed that of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo by more than a
third in 2010, with 18 killings from January to June and 28 from July to
December. With the current state of human rights in the country, it is no
wonder that hired gunmen and extrajudicial killings thrive;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the House of Representatives

denounce the continuing media killings and urge President Benigno Aquino III
to carry out comprehensive and concrete actions to bring the perpetrators
before the bar of justice.
Adopted,

TEDDY A. CASIÑO NERI JAVIER COLMENARES

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