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Local NUJP submits two cases to int’l mission

BAGUIO CITY (January 28) – Two cases of Cordillera journalists killed in 1999 and 2004 were brought to the attention of the members of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The group visited the country for a fact-finding mission on the spate of journalist killings. Since 1986, 61 journalists have been killed.

The two cases submitted are the killing of Sun Star reporter Reynaldo P. Pedronio, who was gunned down by one Abel Mamma of the para-military group Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army (CPLA) and the killing of Stephen Bas-ong Omaois allegedly by six youths in Tabuk, Kalinga.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Baguio-Benguet report stated that Pedronio was shot to death by Mamma on June 4, 1999 while the victim was walking with his wife on Saint Bernadette Alley, at the Barangay Sto. Rosario. Mamma was convicted by a judge of the Regional Trial Court in this city but he appealed the decision to the higher court, and is still pending at the moment.

The second case is the killing of Omaois. The 24-year old staff writer and columnist of the bi-monthly Guru Press based in Tabuk, Kalinga was allegedly killed by six youths on November 26.

The report claimed that three of the suspects are under the custody of the PNP-Kalinga but they (NUJP Baguio-Benguet) urged the PNP officials to further investigate the case as Omaois had been receiving death threats in relation to his job as a journalist before he was killed.

The report added that Omaois admitted two weeks before his death to Alfred Dizon, publisher and editor of the regional Northern Philippine Times, that he filed his resignation from the said paper due to the threats to his life. The threats were usually sent to the victim’s mobile phone. “Dogs at the Omaois residence in Tabuk always barked at night due to unknown people lurking around their house,” the report added.

Artemio Dumlao Jr., NUJP Baguio-Benguet chairperson, claimed that the reports submitted to the IFJ are a part of the group’s campaign towards the achievement of justice for the killing of the two Cordillera journalists.

The mission

The international fact-finding mission, hosted by the NUJP, started on January 24 and will end on February 1st. IFJ members will meet with government officials and relatives of the victims to know the issues and development surrounding the cases of killed journalists.

The IFJ mission visited General Santos City (Mindanao) last January 26, Iloilo City (Visayas) last January 27and Legaspi City (Visayas) last January 28. On January 31, the group will be in Manila where the delegates will present their mission findings in a press conference.

NUJP in a statement said that “the delegates include Gerard Noonan of the IFJ’s Asia_pacific office based in Australia, and Rustam Fachri Mandayun of the Indonesian Journalists Association (AJI) and former executive editor of Tempo, Indonesia’s most influential news weekly.”

Meanwhile, the NUJP will hold a two-day workshop on the safety for journalist at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. The workshop slated on January 31 to February 1 is part of a national campaign for the protection of journalists. It should be recalled that the country was tagged as the second most dangerous place for journalists next to Iraq due to the killings of 13 journalists last year alone. # Arthur Allad-iw for NORDIS

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