12/04/2008 | 08:51 AM
- Dismayed over the killing of a radio commentator in Northern Samar last Tuesday, a New York-based media watchdog group urged the Philippine government Thursday to act on what it called a rise in fatal attacks on journalists.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) lamented that no witness has so far come forward to provide clues on the killing of Leo Mila."It is time for the central government, as well as local authorities, to promptly address the climate of impunity that is facilitating rising violence against Philippine journalists," CPJ Asia program coordinator Bob Dietz said in a statement on its website Thursday morning (Manila time)."Mila's murder is a reminder that police throughout the Philippines must respond immediately with investigations and protection when journalists are threatened for their work," he added.Mila was shot dead outside the local station office of Radyo Natin in San Roque town in Northern Samar province Tuesday night.Radio employees alerted police after hearing gunfire and finding Mila's abandoned motorcycle still running outside.Mila had reported receiving death threats, even as colleagues believe he was targeted for his work.Department of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor on Wednesday said he has dispatched a team to look into the killing. Blancalfor heads Task Force 211, an agency under the DOJ looking into journalist killings in the country.CPJ noted at least five other journalists have been ambushed and slain this year, with the gunmen attacking in public areas and escaping by motorcycle.The CPJ is investigating the November 17 murder of another Radyo Natin journalist, Arecio Padrigo, for links to his work.Padrigo was gunned down on southern Mindanao Island in an incident that appeared to be a targeted attack.Outspoken radio commentators Dennis Cuesta and Martin Roxas both received death threats before being shot and killed for reports on politic issues in their local areas, CPJ confirmed.The unrelated attacks occurred within a few days of each other in August.On the other hand, two print journalists, publisher Benefredo Acabal and columnist Bert Sison, were also shot dead this year. The motive for these two attacks has not been confirmed.CPJ noted its global campaign to combat impunity for journalist murders focuses initially on Russia and the Philippines.
Leo Luna Mila, 35, a news anchorman and commentator of Radyo Natin, was gunned down Tuesday in San Roque, Northern Samar, Philippines. Mila was shot 12 times while leaving work. As publisher of the local magazine Peryodista and host of another radio program "Bungkaras" (Wake Up), he had been critical of the New People's Army's forced taxation. He had received threats through text messages last September.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Mila is the 8th journalist killed in the Philippines this year and the 62nd since 2001, when President  Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power. A total of 122 media people have been murdered since President Cory Aquino overthrew the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice's Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, chairman of the "Task Force 211" - Against Political Violence and Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines, announced that a probe team would be sent to Northern Samar. The Northern Samar provincial police office has also formed "Task Force Mila" to investigate the killing. Two local politicians, including San Roque Mayor Andre Avalon, have offered a P100,000 (US$2 067.80) bounty for any information leading to the capture of the suspects.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said, "it is time for the central government, as well as local authorities, to promptly address the climate of impunity that is facilitating rising violence against Philippine journalists. Mila's murder is a reminder that police throughout the Philippines must respond immediately with investigations and protection when journalists are threatened for their work."