US embassy cable - 05MANILA5749

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 005749 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/PD, DRL/CRA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PINS, KCOR, KPAO, RP 
SUBJECT: CONVICTION IN MEDIA KILLING, BUT SLAYINGS CONTINUE 
 
REF: A. MANILA 5521 
 
     B. MANILA 5346 
     C. MANILA 1595 
 
1.  (U) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified -- 
Please handle accordingly. 
 
2.  (SBU) Summary:  A Philippine court has sentenced a former 
policeman to life imprisonment for murdering a journalist, 
the first such conviction since 2000.  The Philippines, 
however, remains a very dangerous place for members of the 
media with ten killed this year, including three in the past 
three weeks.  Amid mounting criticism, GRP officials have 
promised a crack down.  Mission continues to urge the GRP to 
apprehend and prosecute those responsible.  End Summary. 
 
Ex-Cop Convicted of Murder 
-------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) On November 29, a Regional Trial Court in Cebu City 
convicted former police officer Guillermo Wapile for the 
murder of Edgar Damalerio in 2002.  Damalerio was a 
journalist in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur Province in 
Mindanao, when he was shot and killed.  The case was 
transferred to Cebu City in May 2005 after three witnesses, 
as well as the policeman who first responded to the crime, 
were murdered in the Zamboanga area.  (Note:  The police 
continue to investigate these latter four killings.  End 
Note.)  The court sentenced Wapile to life imprisonment and 
ordered him to pay Damalerio's family 135,000 pesos 
(approximately USD 2,500) in damages.  Wapile is appealing 
the decision.  According to the Philippine National Police 
(PNP) Criminal and Investigation Group "Task Force Newsmen," 
this is the sixth conviction for a murder of a member of the 
media since 1986 and the first since 2000.  However, the 
National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) says 
that there have only been three convictions total since 1986. 
 
But Killings Continue 
--------------------- 
 
4.  (U) Despite the conviction, slayings of members of the 
media continue.  Recent incidents have included: 
 
-- December 1:  George Benaojan, a reporter for DYDD Radio in 
Talisay City, Cebu Province in the central Philippines, was 
shot dead on December 1.  Police have identified one of three 
suspects in the killing of Benaojan and charged him in 
absentia with murder, but no arrests have been made. 
 
-- November 20: Two gunmen killed newspaper reporter Robert 
Ramos in Cabuyao, Laguna Province, located south of Manila. 
Police have identified two suspects, but have not yet made 
any arrests. 
 
-- November 18: A lone gunman killed radio announcer Ricardo 
Uy in Sorsogon City, Sorsogon Province in southern Luzon. 
Police have not made any arrests in the case. 
 
So far, ten members of the media have been slain in 2005.  In 
2004, a total of 13 were killed (see ref C for further 
background). 
 
GRP Response 
------------ 
 
5.  (U) PNP Chief Arturo Lomibao reacted swiftly to the 
recent killings; he visited the sites of both Ramos' and Uy's 
killing and said he would be personally involved in the 
investigations.  Secretary of Interior and Local Government 
Angelo Reyes also condemned the killings and promised a crack 
down.  According to the PNP's Task Force Newsmen, there are 
15 work-related cases involving murders of members of the 
media currently on trial. 
 
6.  (SBU) Nonetheless, NGOs continue to criticize the 
government for failing to do enough to protect media 
personnel.  The NUJP says that 73 media personnel have been 
slain since 1986 -- 36 since President Arroyo came to power 
in 2001, with the implication that the situation has worsened 
significantly on her watch.  The NUJP has warned that some 
members of the media are responding by arming themselves, 
offering bounties on those who have killed media personnel, 
and even talking of forming vigilante groups to fight back. 
Many in news organizations also note that the media has to do 
a better job of policing itself in order to rid itself of the 
tarnish of "envelope journalism."  Such corruption 
effectively involves media personnel in local disputes, which 
can be very dangerous when those who are targeted lash out. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
7.  (SBU) International NGOs monitoring violence against 
journalists have labeled the Philippines the most dangerous 
country for journalists after Iraq.  The conviction of the 
former policeman is encouraging and sends a signal, but much 
more effort on the part of the GRP is needed.  The killing of 
media personnel, in addition to extrajudicial killings of 
alleged criminals and attacks on leftist activists (refs A 
and B), highlight the high-level of day-to-day violence in 
the Philippines.  Mission continues to urge the GRP to 
apprehend and prosecute those responsible, and to underscore 
to Filipinos the need to respect the rule of law. 
 
Jones