Philippines: Not an Iraq But Ever Dangerous to Journalists

CRYING FOR JUSTICE. Marcos Mataro of D 'X-Man, UNTV, was instantly killed with 6 gunshot wounds while waiting for a bus bound for Metro Manila. As reported in Abante Online, May 29, 2008, the suspect to Mataro’s killing was Nickson Icao, owner of the motorcycle used by the gunmen with plate number DW4524; and Felizardo Lumagham, or “Ka Zaldy”, a deacon of the Iglesia ni Cristo who reportedly borrowed the motorcycle. The murder remains unsolved despite UNTV's offer of P1.2M ($30,000 ) for the early resolution of the case.

Manila, Philippines - Are journalists meant to be shut up and finally killed?

The past maybe the past, but they are bound to be repeated if they are ignored. It is time to look into journalist killings all over again, perchance there is any hope for change. That these things have set a pattern for others to follow indicates that the gangrene is there: the penchant to shut up somebody's mouth from telling the truth.

Immediately following is a register of journalists in the Philippines killed, detained, harassed, or threatened while doing their duty. The period spans barely the last decade from 2002 up to the present although for the recent years, data have yet to be consolidated. At times, these reports that include classic cases give a description of the event and the situation obtaining. The main sources for these are Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and their rendition have been preserved. Included in this report are most recent ones known to the public but ignored by mainstream media. The details of this later part shall be covered in another account.

The Journalists

Edgar Damalerio of Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur province was killed in 13 May 2002. The man who carried out the killing, Guillermo Wapile, a former police officer, escaped from a police base in Pagadian, Northern Mindanao, on 28 January 2003. Wapile had been placed in police custody under the responsibility of local police chief Pedrito Reyes. Reyes retired a few months later without ever being questioned about the escape. In May, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (an alliance of some 10 press freedom organisations) launched a nationwide campaign to press for the arrest of the suspects in this case. Wapile was seen in Pagadian on 20 June and then in San Pablo. In July, it was reported that he had received plastic surgery to his face so that he would not be recognised.

Benjaline "Beng" Hernandez was murdered on 5 April 2002. The prosecutor's office in Davao, southern Mindanao, announced on 12 November that there was sufficient evidence to charge two soldiers and two militiamen. A young human rights activist and journalist with several university publications, Hernandez was killed in Arakan Valley, in Cotabato province, also southern Mindanao, while investigating implementation of the peace process.

Orly Navarro, a commentator on Super Radyo as well as its manager, was publicly threatened by Julian V. Resuello, the mayor of San Carlos in the northern province of Pangasinan, during a meeting of the province's mayors on 3 January 2003. Resuello insulted Navarro, tried to slap him and threatened to kill him, brandishing a pistol. He said no journalist had the right to criticize him. He apparently felt targeted when, shortly before the meeting, Navarro lamented the spread of clandestine gambling in San Carlos on the air. After the local press club and Super Radyo's other journalists criticized the mayor for making the threat, he went to the station and apologized to Navarro on 7 January.

Tonette Orejas, the Philippine Daily Inquirer's correspondent in the northern city of Luzon, began receiving anonymous death threats in telephone calls and telephone text messages on 15 March 2003. This was two days after submitting a story to her editor about a sex scandal involving an aide to Pampanga province's deputy governor that time, who is President Arroyo's son. The aide, Augusto Sanchez, was accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter. In the threatening messages, Orejas was urged to withdraw the still unpublished story she had submitted.

Virgilio Catoy, a member of the video production company ST-Exposure and a human rights activist, was abducted along with 10 other persons by masked gunmen on 21 April 2003 on the Naujan road in the eastern part of Mindoro Island. The group had been heading toward the town of Calapan with the aim of investigating the murders of human rights activists by the military. Six of the eleven were released after an hour. The bodies of Eden Marcellana, the secretary-general of the human rights organisation Karapatan-ST, and Eddie Gumanoy, Karapatan-ST's president, were found the next day in the town of Bansud. The three other members of the group, including Catoy, were found tied up on a roadside near Bongabong. The survivors said their kidnappers had identified themselves as members of the anti-communist group Alsa Masa. Local human rights groups, however, were convinced that the masked abductors were linked to the army and they accused Col. Jovito Palparan of the 204th infantry regiment of responsiblity. He denied the claim.

Efren Rafanan was injured in an attempt on his life on 31 March 2003 near the studios of DZXE-Radio Tirador, a local radio station in Vigan City, in the northern province of Ilocos Sur. His wife, one of his sons, his brother and his bodyguard were all killed in the ambush. More than 3,000 people took part in the procession when they were buried on 7 April. The provincial police chief announced that day that Identikit pictures had been produced from witness descriptions and that the police were looking for the car used in the ambush. But he refused to say what motive was suspected.

John Villanueva of radio DZGB-AM in Legazpi, Albay province, south of Manila, was shot by two gunmen near his home in the small town of Camalig on 28 April 2003. Hit five times, he was rushed to Bicol hospital where he died from his injuries. Around 3,000 people attended his funeral on 9 May, calling for justice. Ding Uy, the president of Sorsogon Independent Media Reporters Incorporated (SIMRI), said that at the funeral the suspected gunmen were members of a special army unit. The radio station's director, Glenn Barcelon, said Villanueva had not reported receiving any death threats to him. Aged 54, Villanueva was known as "Mr Public Service" by the listeners to his programme "Banguerahan."

Meanwhile, Radio presenter Apolinario "Polly" Podeba was gunned down near the studios of radio DWTI-AM in Lucena, southeast of Manila, on 17 May 2003 by three men on a motorcycle who fired seven shots at close range, hitting him in the head. One of the gunmen even got off the motorcycle to fire more shots at him as he lay on the ground to make sure he was dead. Aged 35 and a former communist guerrilla, Podeba was known for criticizing both national and municipal authorities. For the past two years, he and two colleagues had presented a programme called "Nosi ba Lasi" (Who are they?) in which they blamed the mayor of Lucena, Ramon Talaga, for the spread of drugs and gambling in the town. The mayor reacted by closing down the radio station in 2002, forcing it to move outside the city limits.

The case of Reynaldo Cortes is different. A gunman walked into the studios of DYDD Bantay Radyo (Radio Watch) in Cebu City on 12 June and fired on the presenter Reynaldo Cortes. Hit in the right side of the groin, Cortes was hospitalized. The police did not name any suspect. But Cortes thought a customs officer was responsible as he had criticised the luxurious lifestyle of certain customs inspectors in his programme "Engkwentro," eliciting an angry reaction from some of them.

Newspaper reporter and editorialist Bonifacio Gregorio, 55, was shot three times in the head outside his home in the village of Caramutan in Tarlac province (150 km north of Manila) on 8 July by a lone gunman. He died after being taken to Ramos general hospital. The former head of his village, Gregorio had worked for the local weekly Dyaryo Banat (Attack Newspaper) since 1997. He wrote articles that were very critical of La Paz mayor Dioisio Manuel and had recently accused him of illegally transforming a rice paddy into a cemetery that was inaugurated the day of the murder. Gregorio's widow, Gertrude, said she had asked her husband to stop investigating stories that angered the local authorities. The mayor denied any involvement in the killing.

From all these cases, one would think that nothing would happen to popular journalists, but no. Ninez Cacho-Olivares, director and editor of the national newspaper, The Daily Tribune, was arrested on 4 August 2003 at her home in Parañaque City, southeast of Manila. Her detention, which she called "political persecution," followed the issue of 19 arrest warrants as a result of a "criminal libel" suit filed by President Arroyo's personal lawyer, Arthur "Pancho" Villaraza. A May 2004 report in The Daily Tribune alleged that Villaraza solicited a kickback of 20 million US dollars from a German construction company in exchange for helping it obtain a contract and permits to build an extension to Manila's new international airport. Associates of the president also allegedly solicited 50 million dollars from the company in exchange for eliminating a company owned by the Cheng family (a Filipino family of Chinese origin) from the contract. The report did not name President Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel, but various allusions suggested he was implicated. The newspaper based its allegations on recordings of conversations between Villaraza and the construction company's representatives. Cacho-Olivares was released on bail three days later. The German company confirmed to the press in October that it had indeed been the target of attempted extortion by associates of PresidentArroyo. Reporters without Borders said this was the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1986 that a newspaper editor was arrested.

The case of Noel Villarante is significantly daunting. At 32, a journalist with local radio station DZJV, he was gunned down in Santa Cruz in Laguna province (70 km southeast of Manila) on 19 August. At first, he was just wounded when a gunman fired at him as he was outside his home and he managed to scramble inside. But when family members tried to take him to hospital, they came under fire from another gunman and were forced to abandon him. The second gunman then shot him again at point-blank range and continued to shoot him after he had collapsed to the ground.

Villarante, who also wrote for the local paper Laguna Score, had often criticized regional authorities for corruption. His wife Jocelyn told radio station DZRH that he had also denounced illegal gambling. A few days before he was killed, she overheard him in a telephone conversation with at least two members of the regional council at that time (Rolando Bagnes and Susano Tapia) in which he said, "It's not personal, it's just my job." The Santa Cruz police arrested Senando Palumbarit as the presumed killer on 25 August and presented him to the news media the next day. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Villarante's wife identified him as one of the two gunmen on 27 August. Palumlbarit said he was innocent.

Rico Ramirez, a cameraman and journalist with radio DZSF in San Francisco, in the province of Agusan del Sur (on Mindanao island), was gunned down about 100 metres from the station on 20 August by two men, who shot him in the back. Station manager Max Tutor, who witnessed the killing, said police did not get any significant leads. But Ramirez's recent criticism of local organized crime and drug traffickers appeared to have been the motive.

"Jun" Porras Pala is also popular but not spared. In his car on 6 September in Davao, on Mindanao island, he was hit him five times, once in the heart. Aged 49, Pala presented a daily programme on local radio station DXGO and was well known for his fierce criticism of local politicians and communist rebels. He was a former Davao town councilor and ran as an independent for deputy mayor in May 2001. Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Pala's personal enemy, told journalists: "Pala is dead. The story of his life is over." But Davao's journalists responded that the mayor was too quick to rejoice at Pala's death and implied that he could have been the instigator. DXGO's station manager said: "It was well known that Juan criticized one person in particular." The local representative of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Carlos Conde, said Pala may not have been "a paragon of journalistic virtue" but he would still have been alive if he had not presented a radio programme.

As for Nelson Nadura, 42, he was shot five times as he rode away on a motorcycle from the studios of radio DYME on the central island of Masbate on 2 December. This was minutes after presenting his morning news programme, "Opinyon Publiko," which covered local and national politics. DYME is owned by the Espinosa family, which is very influential on Masbate. Several of its members planned to run in the May 2004 legislative elections. The day after the murder, President Arroyo promised to bring Nadura's killers to justice. The police formed a special task force to investigate the case on 5 December. Station manager Chang Enciso said the police were looking for two men for whom they issued Identikit pictures based on witness descriptions. The police suggested the killing could have been the work of the guerrillas of the communist New People's Army (NPA), of which Nadura was an active member until he abandoned armed struggle in 1998. But a spokesman for the guerrillas denied they were involved. Nadura's wife Vilam Nadura, a mother of four, blamed his "political opponents" and publicly called for justice.

The killings persisted and Ely Binoya, a Radyo Natin political commentator who was outspoken in his criticism of corruption in the local elite, was gunned down by two men as he was returning home on 17 June 2004 in the southern city of Malongon. Three months later, the police arrested two of the four men they had named as suspects. Both denied having anything to do with the murder. One of them, Ephraim Englis, was described by the police as the mastermind. Despite evidence pointing to his role, he was acquitted by the regional court in nearby General Santos on 6 March 2006.

The prevailing impunity is especially flagrant in Pagadian in the murder of journalist Edgar Amoro on 2 February 2005. Arrest warrants have been issued for two suspects, "Madix" Maulana and Norhan Ambol, but the police have not detained them. According to a Pagadian journalist, they have been seen on the streets of Pagadian for months.

Reporters without Borders would especially like to see the police solve the March 2005 murder of journalist and anti-corruption activist Marlene Esperat in Tacurong (on the southern island of Mindanao). She was gunned down at her home as her daughter and two sons watched in horror. The hit men have been arrested but those who hired them are still at large. UNESCO reported that "the March 2005 killers of anti-corruption columnist Marlene Esperat were jailed for life. But those punished were only triggermen and those who ordered the killings are still walking free." While the trial of the gunmen is on track, the presumed instigators, who include agriculture department officials, were questioned and then mysteriously released. Esperat is a freelance journalist and contributor to the local newspapers Midland Review and Gold Star.

Rolando "Dodong" Morales, 43, a presenter on radio DXMD, was brutally killed by eight unidentified men on the evening of 3 July 2005 near the city of Polomolok (in the south of Mindanao). Then there was radio presenter George Benaojan, 27, who was shot three times in December 2005 by a man using a .45 calibre pistol. The gunman had been waiting for him for more than three hours near a market in Talisay City, and witnesses saw the killer take off in a white taxi. Benaojan's colleagues said he had recently received SMS death threats. He previously escaped a murder attempt in August 2004 but he died just the same in which those responsible were never identified.

Rolly Canete was also murdered in Pagadian on 20 January 2006. He was shot by unidentified gunmen who drove away on a motorcycle. Aged in his 60s, Canete hosted programmes on local radio stations on behalf of a parliamentarian and the parliamentarian's wife, the province's governor.

Joey Estriber is yet to be found. He is the producer of the programme Pag-usapan Natin (Let's talk about that) on local radio DZJO, who was kidnapped on 3 March 2006 by four men outside an Internet cafe in Baler (in Aurora province). According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Estriber struggled with his abductors and called out as he was bundled into a pickup with tinted windows and no number places.

In Mindanao again, George Vigo, a contributor to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), a news agency, and his wife, Maricel Vigo, the host of a programme on radio dxND, who were both also human rights activists, were murdered on 19 June 2006 in Kidapawan by two men on a motorcycle. The police claimed to have solved the case after identifying three members of the communist guerrilla group, the NPA, as their killers. But the victims' colleagues dispute this claim and accuse the police of being unable to arrest the real suspects. Several sources say the investigation has been politically manipulated and botched.

Also on the island of Mindanao, Armando Pace, the host of a programme on local radio station DXDS, who had often been threatened for his criticism of local politicians and drug trafficking, was gunned down on 18 July 2006 in Digos by two men on a motorcycle - a common method of carrying out killings in the Philippines. Two days after his murder, the police arrested three suspects - the motorcycle driver and the shooter (who were confused, one with the other, by the neighbours and relatives who identified them) and the motorcycle's owner. They were reportedly released. In late July, two policemen were suspended for trying to bring charges against the wrong person. So far the people who ordered the killing have not been identified.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its Special Report 2006 said, "The deadliest nations include such disparate places as the Philippines and Afghanistan. Two of the victims in the Philippines were radio commentators, continuing a trend the CPJ has documented over several years. "

Fernando Batul, a commentator with the radio station dyPR, was shot dead in late May 2006 as he was going to work on Palawan Island, southwest of Manila. The authorities said he was killed because he had criticised a brutal policeman, who was subsequently arrested. Reporters without Borders also reported the following fatalities for 2007: 24 December 2007, Fernando Lintuan, dxGO Radio; and 17 April 2007, Carmelo Palacios, dzRB Radio ng Bayan.

Call from Reporters without Borders

These journalists are part of those described by Robert Ménard, Secretary-General of Reporters without Borders, when he wrote to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take quick action. On 4 August 2006, he said among others that "the accusations often made by senior police and military officers against press freedom organizations are very regrettable…. At a meeting with representatives of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, one of the heads of the national police recently accused international journalists' organizations of being backed by the Communist Party of the Philippines. Such charges are grotesque and testify to a climate of mistrust between the authorities and journalists' organizations that will in no way help the fight against impunity."

Reporters without Borders is an organization that defends press freedom throughout the world. Of late, it reported that there were at least 25 murder attempts and assaults and ten arrests during 2006. Censorship also bit deeper, often because of local politicians seeking to silence opposition media. For 2007, Two journalists were killed because of their work, fewer than in previous years but constant threats and physical attacks make some regions, particularly Mindanao island, dangerous areas. The press managed to defend its rights despite judicial harassment from some political figures that led to journalists being imprisoned.

Hired killers continued to strike in the Philippines. Carmelo Palacios, of public dzRB Radio ng Bayan, in Nueva Ecija province in the north, was murdered on 17 April. Police themselves confirmed that the motive appeared most likely connected to this work. His body showed signs of injuries and he had bullet wounds to the face. Palacios worked on reports exposing corruption and he collaborated with the police to break up criminal gangs through the programme Citizens Crime Watch. At the time of his death, he was investigating cases of misuse of power on the part of police officers and local officials.

On Christmas Eve, two men riding on a motorbike shot dead Ferdinand Lintuan, a presenter on DXGO Radio, in Davao City, Mindanao Island while he was travelling in a car with two colleagues, Louie Ceniza and Edgar Banzon. He was hit in the head by a bullet fired at point blank range and died instantly. He had been critical of local officials; in particular he had accused the governor of Davao of corruption in the development of a "People's park" project, which he had dubbed the "crocodile park". A few days later, police arrested a former soldier believed to have been hired to kill the journalist.

On May 28, 2008, Reporters without Borders reported the continued detention of radio broadcaster Alex Adonis, of dxMF Bombo Radyo, despite his posting of bail after the Davao regional court said he could be freed on this condition. He was sentenced last year to four and a half years in prison for "slandering" a member of parliament. Adonis' colleagues, who helped him post bail, went to Davao prison on 26 May hours after Davao regional court Judge George Omelio had ordered him released on bail of 73 euros. But prison governor Benjo Tesoro told them he would not be freed until "higher correctional authorities" had been officially informed.

Robert Sison was killed when two men on a motorcycle fired on his car in Sariaya, a town in Quezon province 100 km southeast of the capital. Sison, 60, was driving home with his two daughters when the two men on a motorcycle overtook them and opened fire on the car, hitting Sison nine times. His elder daughter, 30-year-old Liwayway, sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. His younger daughter, Amirah, avoided being shot by playing dead.

Sison hosted a programme called Harana on dzAT-AM, a radio station based in the nearby city of Lucena, and was a correspondent for Regional Bulletin, a Lucena-based weekly that covered crime and other local stories, including stories that sometimes upset local officials. His two daughters also work for the weekly.

Radio Mindanao Network talk show host Dennis Cuesta died on 9 August from the injuries he received when a gunman shot him five times in a shopping mall in General Santos City on the southern island of Mindanao on 4 August. Doctors had managed to extract a bullet lodged in his head but he had remained in a coma ever since the shooting.

Cuesta's show, "Straight to the Point," was hard-hitting on controversial subjects such as corruption and drug trafficking. Police have not ruled out the possibility that the shooting was linked to his work as a journalist.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has declared 20 August 2008 a national day of mourning for the media.

Human rights activists too

Danilo Araña Arao of Bulatlat added more alarming statistics to this to include human rights activists to the rising trends of killings. He compared the killings of the journalists with the state of human rights violation in the country. Karapatan's (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) 2004 Report on the Philippine Human Rights situation showed that there were 570 documented cases of human rights violations from January to November 2004 involving 9,924 individuals, 441 families, 476 households, and 42 communities. Within Macapagal-arroyo's tenure since 2001, Karapatan documented 3, 488 cases of human rights violations; affecting 193,871 individuals, 18,942 families, 608 households, and 106 communities.

Arao noted that data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) show that 62 journalists were killed from 1986 to 2004, or more than three deaths yearly over this period. During the administration of Corazon Aquino (1986 to 1992), the journalists killed numbered 17. The administration of Fidel Ramos (1992 to 1998) saw the number slightly decreasing to 14. During the shortened regime under Joseph Estrada (1998 to 2001), the journalists killed were 5. From President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's ascension to power in January 2001 until December 2004, the number of journalists killed rose to 26. The years 2006, 2007, and 2008 would reflect more.

Arao's report on media killings said that "the situation of journalists, after all, is no different from that of mass leaders and community organizers who are said to be victims of state of repression."

How to solve?

In his analysis of the rising trend of killing of journalists, PNP Director General Edgar Aglipay during that time was quoted as saying that journalists must practice responsible journalism in order to protect themselves. This statement implies that most journalists killed if not all, according to Arao of Bulatlat, were irresponsible and thus caught the ire of the people or groups that they may have offended in their reportage.

Such an opinion which could be shared by other media consumers is reflective of the general public's indifference to the plight of journalists, Arao said. There are those who think that they deserve to die anyway for their disservice to the readers. In other words, they had it coming. However, the situation of journalists is no different from that of mass leaders and community organizers who are said to be victims of state repression, Bulatlat observed.

Who are they?

In most of the reports, the military, the politicians, and business rivals are targeted as the masterminds. Recent incidents, however, point to another group: a powerful religious bloc that had long been intervening in the affairs of the government including the justice system that they use media to cover up their tracks. The question that persists is: Why has mainstream media chosen to long ignore this fact?

Danilo Araña Arao of Bulatlat said various interest groups try to harass and intimidate journalists, even to the point of silencing them forever.

Extending to Religious Circles

This trend is extending to religious circles where journalism and human rights are being flagrantly violated. Three cases are given here: Those of Ross Tipon, Marcos Mataro, and Eliseo Soriano, and only one group is the perpetrator: the Iglesia ni Cristo.

The Ross Tipon Case

Sometime in 2005 Freelance writer Ross Tipon figured in a fight for freedom of expression when he had wanted to publish a 186-page book titled "The Power and the Glory: The Cult of Manalo." The book came up as he studied and researched the history of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) religion in the Philippines, including the life, influence, and power of Felix Manalo. According to Pastor G. Reckart, the suppression of Tipon's freedom privilege was due to the incident threat of violence that the INC had imposed in the Philippine government through its attorney Abraham Espejo that asked a temporary restraining order (TRO) before the honorable Judge Ofelia Marquez. Espejo stated: "The publication of the criminal manuscript will trigger social unrest. Millions of people may come out in the streets and this may lead to violence. …The book contains allegations based on hearsay and insinuations against the INC that could trigger protest among millions of church members nationwide."

Reckart in his article, "Iglesia Seeks TRO vs publication of 'blaspemous' book, emphasized that Espejo did not say it "MIGHT" but "it WILL trigger social unrest" and that made the remark precisely a threat. Reckart in his jesus-messiah.com based his article on the publication of the Philippine Star (05/24/2005) and concluded that "if the Judge sides with INC we can be sure INC is in control of the freedom of the Philippines whenever it wants to extert its shadow government powers in the open."

The INC, as reported by Reckart, had tacked in some money to stop the publication of the book, and had wanted ONE MILLION pesos that equates to about $18,682 US Dollars during that time. In his analysis of the case, Reckart said that "there is something satanically wrong with the attitude of INC leaders and members."

Reckart is not a Filipino but an occasional visitor to the Philippines which is why he is familiar with what obtains in the country. He is one writer who has been tracking events regarding the Iglesia ni Cristo and is knowledgeable about this church group.

Ross Tipon at that time was filing a motion to dismiss on grounds of curtailment of the freedom of speech. Tipon said "Power and the Glory: The Cult of Manalo" was a product of painstaking research, and that the allegations raised by INC lawyers were based on speculation and hearsay.

Reports have it that the book was eventually published, thanks to some vigilant writers who made a lot of noise to the public, Reckart for one. It is said to effectively portray the limits of INC's perceived influence among political leaders in the country. Like a bad habit, however, and as publicly known, the Iglesia ni Cristo are all over the government system on account of their bloc voting practice where they support politicians and in turn, the politicians grant them favors.

The Marcos Mataro Case

On April 27, 2008, Marcos Mataro, a hard-hitting religious TV show host of UNTV was shot dead. He received 6 bullet shots from 2 men riding in tandem on a motorcycle. The incident took place while the victim was waiting for a Metro Manila-bound bus in the North Luzon Expressway service road in Barangay Santa Monica, San Simon town in Pampanga, north of Manila. The 39-year old Mataro was known for his brave commentary style of hosting a TV show called D-X'Man. The show is said to feature irregularities in the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) that included even doctrines. Mataro hit on crimes allegedly committed by this sect and used the Bible as the standard basis. Mataro supported his tirades with documents, pamphlets, published newspapers and magazines. Incumbent Jose Torres, president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, has condemned the unlawful death of Mataro. He cited Mataro as the second mediaman killed in the 2008, and the 56th since Gloria Arroyo's term in 2001. Torres also saw that the angle of the killing of the TV host could be linked to his work.

As reported in Abante Online, May 29, 2008, the suspect to Mataro's killing was Nickson Icao, owner of the motorcycle used by the gunmen with plate number DW4524; and Felizardo Lumagham, or "Ka Zaldy", a deacon of the Iglesia ni Cristo who reportedly borrowed the motorcycle. The report further said that according to Task Force head police Senior Supt. Gil Menesses, instead of claiming the motorcycle, Icao hid himself, indicating a strong connection of the suspect to Mataro's murder. Until today, even as the UNTV jacked up the reward for any information leading to Mataro's death, the killers are still at large.

Mataro is a member of the Ang Dating Daan (ADD) religious group, also a religious program with the same title, but is a former Iglesia ni Cristo minister. He spent his last remaining years hosting D' X-Man show, a short moniker that means "The Ex-Manalista" or former members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo of Manalo (INC).Prior to his death, Mataro often received death threats via text messages. This was confirmed by his co-hosts in the show, who are also former members of INC. Lydia Manuyag, a former National Treasurer of the INC, stated in a video interview that they were receiving death threats from the people in their previous religion. She said, "Through text messages, we are threatened ... such as 'We will skin you alive' and 'we will be beheading you.'"

The Eliseo Soriano Case

Bro. Eliseo Soriano is a prominent host of UNTV, particularly the ADD by Demand of The Old Path (TOP) Channel. A critical televangelist, he is also the leader of the Members of Church of God International (MCGI), a homegrown religious organization in the country that is now gaining international recognition and affiliation. On May 7, 2005, Soriano received a memorandum of suspension from Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) under the Office of the President that is being chaired by Ma. Consoliza Laguardia. She took such action when the INC filed a complaint that Soriano called the sect "Iglesia ni Manalo" (Church of Manalo) as he was addressing that the organization was founded by Felix Manalo. However, the Commission on Human Rights - National Capital Region (CHR-NCR) found that Laguardia's action was inconsistent when she dismissed the case with the same nature that Soriano filed against the respondents.

The Board also suspended four television shows of Soriano's group namely "Itanong Mo Kay Soriano" (Ask Soriano, the Bible will answer), D' X-Man, "Ayon sa Biblia" (According to the Bible), and Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path) for a period of thirty days. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR-NCR) said in their 19 October 2005 News Release that the MTRCB's decision was unfair while Soriano's contentions were meritorious.

Jojo Robles in Manila Standard Today (25 May 2005) reported of this case and quoted Soriano as saying, "The very agency (MTRCB) supposedly tasked to protect our guaranteed constitutional rights, is now being used to issue illegal orders against Ang Dating Daan." Robles' article, titled "INC Against Free Press?" further said, "We wonder if the press freedom advocates, who are quick and unrelenting in their condemnation of any curtailment of the freedom of the press (and the killing of journalists) will have anything to say about these two cases involving INC before they, too, degenerate into actual shooting wars." The two cases Robles was talking about were those of Ross Tipon and Eliseo Soriano.

While Tipon's case seems to be on the low, Robles' warning of "shooting wars" came in a more vicious form in the case of the INC hounding Soriano. If the Iglesia ni Cristo were successful in using the MTRCB to its side, it was successful in using the Interpol to post Soriano's name and information as "wanted for sex crimes." Bro. Eliseo Soriano, Presiding Minister of the Members Church of God, International had excommunicated one from his flock for raping some 14 of his office mates and for stealing money from church collections. Daniel Veridiano was excommunicated in August 2005 by Soriano. From there, Veridiano, alias Puto, joined the Iglesia ni Cristo and became their weapon used to file two counts of rape against Soriano. The case was dismissed by the regional court of Pampanga but the Secretary of Justice, himself, Raul Gonzalez, with no connection to the case, had it re-filed. By late 2005, the evangelist left the country upon being informed that he would get killed and is now in exile, serving his international locales through satellite coverage. Because the INC could not find him, they used the Interpol, appending "Sex Crimes." Previous to this, Rizalino L. Arrabis, a retired US Navy man and INC member persistently solicited from the public in the Internet the email address, phone number, fax number, and whereabouts of Soriano in Newsvine.com, NowPublic.com, OhmyNews.com and Topix.net. Also, Arrabis pursued Jane Abao, a journalist member of Soriano's group in all these sites, threatened her, called her a chigoe and all sorts of insults, and accused her of painting a positive picture of what he called a criminal.

Arrabis, however, is echoing what 3 or 4 INC ministers do in NET25 wherein they detail the usual paths of Soriano when he was here in the Philippines. They instigated the Abu Sayyaf (Moro rebels) to go after him also saying Soriano hated them. As evidence, they would play tapes that they mangled from the discourses of Soriano. True to their wishes, Muslims in the INC neighboring area of Culiat, Quezon City, appeared in Net25 damning Soriano and calling for his death.

Soriano's group would now want to know the details forwarded to the Interpol and challenge it. The Iglesia ni Cristo had long been pestering Soriano with disinformation of all sorts including the filing of case after case. The impatience to get him dead may be due to the fact that it is only him who dares to expose what this church group does. Soriano has with him sensitive information regarding this group that he plays from time to time from INC tapes and is credited to be the cause of the INC's dwindling numbers.

Prior to this, on February 1, 2002 at midnight up to the morning of the next day, the ADD Convention Center of Soriano's group was raided by the National Bureau of Investigation on a mere charge of libel filed by the Iglesia ni Cristo. The men came in full combat gear frightening the widows and orphans situated at the front of the Convention Center.

Reflective of National Situation

The current trend of violence against media and human rights workers shows that their plight is symptomatic of the national situation. The data clearly speak of the kind of government the country has. Observers say the government's influential allies contribute to its deprivation and violation to the vital laws. Such laws must be implemented and promoted if the Philippines is to remain a democratic country but instead it is going the other way around. These views have been expressed by the Reporters San Frontiers (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists, the human rights group, Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights), and now the Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path) group that has long been the target of the Iglesia ni Cristo.

According to Reporters without Borders, any imprisonment for defamation is a violation of freedom of expression and an attempt to intimidate journalists. The worldwide press freedom organization also believes that the Supreme Court must decriminalize defamation.

It also said that if murder remains unpunished, as so many other murders of journalists have, it will be another defeat for the rule of law. "Combating violence against journalists and human rights activists should be a priority for the government…. Until the motives for these crimes have been discovered and their authors punished, people will continue to doubt the ability of the authorities to end this violence against journalists," it further said.

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