Philippines

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 3 July 2000 CPJ news release: German Journalist kidnapped by rebel faction in Philippines New York, July 3, 2000- A German journalist was kidnapped at gunpoint on July 2 in the southern island of Jolo in the Philippines, according to international news reports. Andreas Lorenz, a 48-year-old Beijing-based reporter […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Alfredo Lim, RSF expressed its concern about the kidnapping of Andreas Lorenz, a reporter with the German weekly “Der Spiegel”, by the group Abu Sayyaf, in Jolo. RSF urged the minister to do everything in his power to secure the journalist’s immediate release. “Our organisation […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – An armed group ambushed the car of a radio commentator with the GV-FM radio station in Angeles City (about 100 kilometers from Manila), Pampanga province, on the morning of 26 June 2000. Three people were killed and two others were injured in the attack. Roy David, a former mayor of the town of […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – On 23 May 2000, Vincent Rodriguez, a Pampanga correspondent with the Manila-based DZMM radio station, was killed during an ambush on Mayor Catalina Bagasina. He is the first Pampanga-based journalist to be killed during coverage. Rodriguez was part of a seven-boat convoy escorting President Joseph Estrada’s son Jojo Osorio Ejercito on a tour […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – According to a police investigation, the 14 May 2000 murder of William Yap Yu was not related to his being the publisher of the “Pagadian City Star”. Police suspect that Yu, a successful businessman, was killed because of a real estate business deal. Yu was also involved in other business ventures apart from […]

(CMFR/IFEX) – In the morning of Sunday 14 May 2000, the publisher of the “Pagadian City Star”, William “Billy” Yap Yu was shot dead by an assassin in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao. Acting City Police Director Paisal Umpa told reporters that they are looking at several angles of the incident, including rifts […]

**Updates IFEX alerts of 4 April, 7 March and 29 February 2000** (CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply disturbed by the recent assassination attempt made against Zamzamin Ampatuan, host of the daily news and cultural affairs program “Radio Kalimudan,” broadcast by the Roman Catholic radio station dxMS in Cotabato City on the island of Mindanao. On […]

On the night of Monday 27 March 2000, radio commentator Zamsamin Amputuan was the target of an ambush attempt. Amputuan was on his way home from Cotabato City, Maguindao, in the southern island of Mindanao, when rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) opened fire at his vehicle, killing two people and injuring several […]

**Updates IFEX alert of 29 February 2000** (WAN/IFEX) – In a 6 March 2000 letter to President Joseph Estrada, WAN and the World Editors Forum expressed their serious concern at a bomb attack on a radio station. According to reports, seven people were injured when a home-made bomb exploded outside DXMS, a Roman Catholic radio […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Interior Minister Alfredo Lim, RSF expressed concern about a bomb explosion that damaged the premises of the Roman Catholic radio station DXMS, and asked the minister to enforce the law and ensure journalists’ safety. According to RSF, attacks on state-owned and private media point to a deterioration of the […]

(IPI/IFEX) – IPI is most concerned about the ongoing advertising boycott of the “Philippine Daily Inquirer”, allegedly initiated by President Joseph Estrada’s administration. **Updates IFEX alerts of 4 August and 22 July 1999** IPI is informed that in July 1999 a number of Philippine movie producers withdrew their advertisements from the “Inquirer”, the largest-circulation paper […]

(AJI/IFEX) – The following is a 2 August 1999 AJI press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 22 July, 13 April and 24 March 1999** INDONESIAN JOURNALISTS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY FOR JOURNALISTS STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), an organization that represents Indonesian journalists, is alarmed to hear the possibility that political motivations […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over persistent evidence that an ongoing advertising boycott of the “Philippine Daily Inquirer”, one of the Philippines’ top newspapers, may have been instigated at the urging of President Estrada’s office. Several large private and government-run corporations have recently withdrawn their advertising from the “Inquirer”, despite the fact that the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply disturbed by the threatening signals the Philippine administration has sent to the independent press in the Philippines in recent months as it pursued a 101 million peso (US$2.6 million) libel suit against the “Manila Times”, one of the country’s oldest newspapers. **Updates IFEX alert of 24 March 1999** The lawsuit […]

(PINA/IFEX) – Philippines news organisations are worried by a record P101 million (approx. US$2,617,000) criminal libel suit by President Joseph Estrada against one of the country’s main daily newspapers, “The Manila Times”, its executives and journalists. According to the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), comments Estrada made in launching the action are a threat to the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – According to CPJ, journalist Nelson Catipay, 35, a correspondent for radio station DXMY in Cotabato City, was shot while traveling in a jeepney (passenger minivan) to a news conference in the town of Sultan Kudarat. Catipay was shot by two unidentified men who were fellow passengers, according to police reports. The killers reportedly […]