INACTION ON MEDIA KILLINGS HIT

UP CMC warns Aquino administration vs inaction on media killings


BY: PROF. DANILO ARAO



We, the undersigned faculty members, students and staff of the University of the 
Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC), express our outrage over the 
killing of still another journalist – Gerardo Ortega, a radio broadcast 
journalist – last January 24 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Ortega is the second to be killed during the seven month-old term of the Aquino 
administration. He was reportedly shot in the head and body inside a store.

We are alarmed by the administration’s failure to stop the killings of 
journalists and other forms of harassment against members of the media.

We view this failure to take swift and decisive action as an indication of the 
administration’s indifference or lack of appreciation of the media’s role as the 
social institution tasked with truth-telling toward enabling the people to make 
sense of social problems and to participate in their solution.

Only by arresting the perpetrators and punishing the guilty can the Aquino 
administration unequivocally send the message that it is putting an end to the 
“culture of impunity” which has led to the murder of many journalists and other 
victims of human rights.

We demand an immediate and thorough investigation that will lead to the arrest, 
prosecution and conviction of those responsible for this latest act of violence 
against media.

This press statement is signed by 26 faculty members, 7 administrative staff and 
252 students from the University of the Philippines College of Mass 
Communication led by Dean Roland B. Tolentino.

For verification, please call the UP CMC Department of Journalism at 920-6852.

(end)

Danilo A. Arao
Assistant Professor
Department of Journalism
College of Mass Communication Plaridel Hall
University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Q.C. 1101
Telephone: (+632) 920-6852, 981-8500 loc. 2672
Fax: (+632) 920-6852
Mobile Phone: (+63908) 866-ARAO
Email: danilo.arao@up.edu.ph
Website: http://www.dannyarao.com





(Disclamer)
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