Int'l organization to help
families of slain journalists

By Leny G. Gabo

Concerned with the successive killing of media practitioners in the country, a fact-finding team coming from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) visited Iloilo City last Friday to conduct fact-finding and safety mission in Iloilo .

The IFJ together with the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) are conducting studies on massive killings of media practitioners in the country.

The IFJ earlier tagged the Philippines as a dangerous place for media practitioners second to the war-torn Iraq .

In a press briefing, Gerard Noonan, senior writer of the Sydney Herald, said the cases of media assault in the Philippines are alarming.

He said the reasons behind the assault on media practitioners are mostly undetermined due to the failure of the authorities to follow up on the cases.

Meanwhile, Carlos Conde, Secretary General of NUJP and New York Times correspondent said that media killings should not discourage practitioners from keeping vigilant and persistently bring out exposes.

He urged media practitioners to criticize the government for being indecisive on the issue of media killings.  

Noonan also encouraged media practitioners to report related cases to their affiliates for proper action.

In support to the family of slain media personalities, Noonan said that the organization is working for the giving of educational support to their children.

The fact-finding team visited the families of the slain journalists to inquire about the status of their cases.

It was noted that most of the cases of media killings in the region remain unsolved.