Impunity: A case study

TODAY’S papers reported that one of the suspects in the mauling of actor Vhong Navarrao last year was arrested by the justice department’s National Bureau of Investigation.

Ferdinand Guerrero was nabbed in a Makati City condominium along Ayala Avenue according to a report published on the website of the Philippine Star.

[Read full text of “Missing suspect in Vhong Navarro case nabbed”]

Navarro, also known as Totoy Bibo, was mauled in a Taguig City condominium on January 22, 2014 after he allegedly tried to rape commercial model Deniece Cornejo. Aside from Guerrero, martial artist Simeon “Zimmer” Raz Jr. and businessman Cedric Lee were also charged with grave coercion and serious illegal detention.

Three days ago, January 24, 2015, someone was murdered four years ago.

Gerry Ortega, a journalist, was shot in cold blood in Palawan after his final broadcast.

He died on the spot.

While his case had the potential of being resolved swiftly compared to most cases of media murders, it has dragged on for four years now.

Authorities captured the gunman, Marlon Recamata, only minutes after he fled the crime scene. Recamata immediately confessed to the killing, and directly implicated the former Palawan governor as mastermind. However, following the preliminary investigation, a panel of prosecutors from the Justice Department absolved the Reyes consortium, including Joel Reyes’ brother and co-conspirator Mario Reyes, and four other accused—a decision that was reversed by a second panel, but nonetheless dragged the case on. – “A voice silenced: Gerry Ortega, a case study of impunity in the Philippines”

This PCIJ production, “Murder in Paradise: The Doc Gerry Ortega murder” takes us back to one of the more controversial killing of a journalist that involved a former Palawan governor.

What happened to the Gerry Ortega murder case?

According to Rupert D. Mangilit of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines:

Ortega’s case reflects the sorry state of journalist killings in the Philippines since 1986. While 171 media workers were murdered in cold blood, a dismal 16 convictions have been made. Among those who have been sentenced are the small fry behind the murders — the gunmen, the lookouts, the drivers — but never the masterminds. In the last four years under the Aquino presidency, 32 journalists, including Ortega, have lost their lives.

Click on the image below to read the full article of Mangilit originally published on the website of the International Federation of Journalists on November 13, 2014.

Photo by Julius D. Mariveles