ALAM, NUJP, IFJ nanawagan ng hustisya kay Garcia

DALAWANG Philippine media organizations – Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) at National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) ang nakiisa sa International Federation of Journalists sa paggiit ng hustisya para kay Rubylita Garcia, ang unang Filipino journalist na napatay ngayong taon 2014.

Si Garcia, reporter ng tabloid na Remate at block timer ng Cavite based dwAD radio station, ay binawian ng buhay habang nilalapatan ng lunas sa St. Dominic Hospital sa Cavite bunsod ng limang bala na tumama sa kanyang katawan.

Sa ulat, pinasok ng tatlong lalaki ang bahay ng biktima sa Talaba Village, Bacoor dakong 10:15 a.m. nitong Linggo. Ang 52-anyos biktima ay limang beses binaril sa harap ng kanyang 10-anyos apong babae.

Bunsod ng tumataas na bilang ng insidente ng pagpatay sa hanay ng Filipino journalists, ang bansa ay nananatiling kabilang sa pinakamapanganib na bansa sa mundo para sa mga journalist.

Kaugnay nito, nag-alok si Jerry Yap, national chairman ng ALAM, ng P50,000 cash reward sa sino mang makatutulong sa pagbibigay ng impormasyon sa mga awtoridad kaugnay sa pagkakakilanlan at kinaroroonan ng mga suspek.

“This should be investigated thoroughly by an independent body, not by the national police because the police themselves were involved in the killing. Where is the task force created by the government to look into the killing of journalists?” pahayag ni Yap.

Nanawagan ang IFJ sa gobyerno na agad imbestigahan ang insidente ng pagpaslang.

“The ongoing failure of the State to protect journalists and bring their killers to justice, perpetuates a cycle of death for media workers in the Philippines where killers can brazenly confront journalists in their homes or on the street with the full knowledge that the policing and justice system is incapable of dealing with journalist murders,” pahayag ng IFJ sa kanilang website.

“With impunity for journalist murders now a major priority for the United Nations, the Aquino government is guilty by its own inaction. In the global arena, it can no longer continue to foster this rampant abuse of human rights by its own failures to act.”

Ang Belgium-based IFJ ay global union federation ng journalists’ trade unions – ang pinakamalaki sa mundo.

Layunin ng samahan na maprotektahan at mapalakas ang karapatan at kalayaan ng mga journalist.

Sa kabilang dako, sinabi ng NUJP: “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the motive of the attack and to identity the suspects behind this tragedy.”

“When President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III came to office in 2010 he has repeatedly claimed that the nation is in “democracy” again. This claim becomes more and more tenuous with each media killing,” ayon pa sa NUJP. (HNT)