The investigation into the murder of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat is seven years old, while the hunt for conspirators in the 2011 killing of radio journalist Gerardo Ortega is just starting.
(CPJ/IFEX) – 28 March 2012 – The following is a CPJ Blog post:
In the Philippines, two murders that should be solved
By Madeline Earp/CPJ Senior Asia Research Associate
The investigation into the notorious murder of muckraking Philippine journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat in Mindanao is now seven years old. A separate hunt for conspirators in the January 2011 killing of Palawan radio journalist Gerardo Ortega is just getting started. The Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa City issued arrest warrants against three suspects in the Ortega case on Tuesday, and one has been arrested, according to the local Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility. But both cases should already have been solved.
Here are some features they share:
– The journalists reported on local corruption.
– They went after high-profile targets: Garcia-Esperat accused two Department of Agriculture officials of misappropriating funds; Ortega highlighted irregularities in mining contracts awarded by the former governor of Palawan province.
– The triggermen who carried out the killings were apprehended.
– Those assailants implicated high-profile figures in masterminding the attacks.
– Arrest warrants have been issued against the masterminds.
– The masterminds are yet to be tried and convicted. And in that sense, these cases are like the 68 other journalist murders that CPJ has documented in the Philippines in the last two decades.
What has gone wrong?
