LOREN URGES GOV'T TO SOLVE KILLINGS OF J0URNALISTS

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday said the government must assign more law enforcers and prosecutors, and the Supreme Court must monitor judges to speedily resolve cases involving assaults on and murders of journalists in the Philippines.

She made the statement after more foreign journalists' associations joined local journalists' groups in denouncing the continued killings of and assaults on journalists.

"Such assaults and murders can be interpreted as acts to suppress our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press and of expression, and undermine democracy in our country," Loren declared.

Loren said the government must adopt the recommendations of independent media groups for the expeditious solutions to cases involving murders of journalists.

She made the comment after the internationally known Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), based in New York City, had ranked the Philippines sixth among 14 countries where murders of journalists occur with "eerie regularity" and slow resolution.

"This is very alarming," said Loren. "Who then will keep the people informed of what's going on in the government if our journalists are. Until the government sends a strong message that murderers will be caught and punished, the killings (of journalists) will not stop."

The CPJ noted that the there were at least 24 unsolved killings of journalists in the Philippines in the last decade. According to the same media watch, 523 journalists have been killed across the world since 1998 based on CPJ's "impunity index."

The International Federation of Journalists reported that nearly 80 journalists had been killed in the Philippines since 1986 following the restoration of democracy. It said that figure has made the country the second most dangerous place in the world after Iraq for journalists.

The CPJ also urged the government to assign more prosecutors and investigators to the cases, and if necessary, move the trials to safer grounds, while protecting the witnesses.