With apologies for cross posting:
AMARC
Denounces killing of Dr Gerardo Ortega in the Philippines
January 26, 2011, Kathmandu. The World Association
of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) condemns the killing of another
broadcaster in the Philippines, Dr Gerardo Ortega of dwAR-AM of Puerto
Princesa, Palawan Province last January 24, 2011.
We are extremely saddened by the senseless
assassination of another Philippine colleague and we express our deepest
sympathies to Dr Ortega’s family, colleagues and friends. Dr Ortega,
according to testimonies by AMARC members in the Philippines, showed early in
life his desire for genuine and pro-people change in the Philippines. In
college, he was a member of the nationalist League of Filipino Students and, as
a broadcaster, was a staunch defender of the environment against destructive
mining that marginalizes indigenous peoples and his beloved province, Palawan.
AMARC is fully aware of the sad “body
count” of slain journalists in the Philippines. Dr Ortega is the third to
have offered his life for pro-people journalism under the Benigno Aquino
administration and the 142nd since the country was supposed to have
regained democracy in 1986.
AMARC expresses alarm over the unabated
killing of journalists and calls upon the new government to put a stop to them
and deliver justice to all the victims. During its 10th World
Conference in La Plata, Argentina last November, AMARC unanimously approved a
resolution calling for such and it is most unfortunate that our appeals are
unheeded (http://amarc10.amarc.org/index.php?p=amarc10_workshop&l=EN.)
As we call for justice for Dr Ortega, we
again call on the Philippine government to stop the killings of journalists,
deliver justice to the victims, and provide a democratic atmosphere where
freedom of the press is guaranteed. AMARC will remain vigilant over the culture
of impunity reigning darkly over the Philippines.
-END-
About AMARC:
AMARC is an international non-governmental organization
serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for
the right to communicate at the international, national, local and
neighbourhood levels. AMARC has an International Secretariat in Montreal. It
has regional sections in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, North
America and Asia Pacific and offices in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Brussels,
and Kathmandu. For more information, please contact Suman Basnet, Regional
Coordinator for Asia-Pacific, [log in to unmask]
or visit www.asiapacific.amarc.org.
_________________
Suman
Basnet
Regional
Coordinator
AMARC
Asia Pacific
Kathmandu,
Nepal
Fax:
+977 1 5521714
Phone:
+977 1 5554811