KATAPPAT disputes report of Committee to Protect Journalists-Asia Coordinator

An official of the NGO- Kapatiran ng Tagapangalaga ng Pampubliko at Pribadong Aria-arian at Tao (KATAPPAT), Fernado Galut, condemned the declaration of Robert Dietz, Asia Coordinator of the New York based- Committee to Protect Jornalists describing the Philippines, along with Afghanistan, as Asia's most dangerous place for journalists. "It was an illogical description considering that media personalities in the Philippines are freely moving around day or night.", remarked the NGO Official.

According to the report of Dietz, 55 journalists were killed worldwide in direct connection to their work in 2006 and another 30 deaths were being investigated to determine whether they also were linked to the journalist's work. He added that the numbert of journalists jailed worlwide also rose to 134 in 2006.

Notwithsatanding the record showed by Dietz, he has no right to tag the Philippines as one of the most dangerous places in Asia for journalists because he has no factual basis for that accusation. In this country, not one journalist is being imprisoned in line with his/her profession. Reporters can openly roam around the archipelago to interview people and cover the political, social, economic and security arenas without any restrictions.

While it is true that a number of journalists were slain in the Philippines, the government investigated all the cases which in most instances, led not only to the identification of the suspects but to their arrests. Notably, most cases were not connected to the newsmen's work but rather on personal reasons.Based on PNP official record for 2006, only two of the Ten cases involving journalists were work related. The remaining eight cases were due to personal grudges,robberies and estafa.

Galut said that Robert Dietz should visit the coutry and see for himself that the information he obtained from whatever source was bereft of truth and purely misleading. "He should come to the Philippines and personally observe the real situation. Absolutely, he will find out that his report was malicious and false."