BEHIND THE SCENES

>> Sunday, June 17, 2007

This time it was different
(Geronimo Garcia of InterNews and Features writes this week’s column)


It was a perfect and cloudless Sunday late in April and the highway ahead seemed never-ending.

The three of us were halfway in a three-hour trip to Guimba town in Nueva Ecija, starting from Guiguinto in Bulacan as early as 6 a.m. Red Batario was at the wheel and Girlie Sevilla-Alvarez was on the passenger seat. I was on the backseat and was glad to see them.

Given the circumstances, it was hardly the time for joy. The blue sky was barely noticed as we headed our somber way to visit the wake of slain Radyo ng Bayan broadcaster Carmelo Palacios.

The journalist was found dead on April18 along the National Highway in Sta. Rosa town. Red and Girlie were fellows at the Freedom Fund For Journalists (FFFJ). The purpose of our joint visit was to deliver contributions to the family of the slain journalist, from the FFFJ and from those I represented -- the Bulacan Capitol Press Corps, some members of the Philippine Science Journalists -Bulacan and Mabuhay, a Bulacan weekly.

The first time I met Red and Girlie was in a journalism workshop in 2002. The last time was sometime in 2004 during a Philippine Press Institute seminar in Batangas City .

They were then representing the Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), one of the media organizations that compose the FFFJ.

In our re-acquaintance, we had a long conversation that ranged from politics to the practice of journalism. It was a long conversation, from Guiguinto, Bulacan to Guimba, Nueva Ecija and back.

As FFFJ representatives, they told me how many wakes of slain journalists they have visited since the FFFJ was formed over 10 years ago. They said, forgive the clichés, that the climate of impunity in the country really hangs like the mythical sword of Damocles over the heads of journalists.

The killings of journalists are pouring in police spot reports. It occurs throughout the year. And the killings are all the same – they only change the names of victims and the crime scenes.

From a distance, the case of Palacios looks similar to previously recorded cases of media killings. But what made it different this time was the fact that he was not shot like the others. Palacios was bludgeoned to death and then dumped along the road.

The other slain journalists were shot while on their way home or to work. Palacios was at work and was probably invited outside by his killers.

Radyo ng Bayan officers who visited the family said that on the night of April 17, Palacios went on air by calling in a report at around 10 p.m. Moments later, Palacios sent them a text message that a second report was coming at 11 p.m.. When the appointed time came, the Radyo ng Bayan telephone operator called Palacios but failed to contact him.

The next day, his body was found at 6 a.m. along in Bgy. Mapalad, Sta. Rosa town. It bore the signature of his killers who are presumed powerful. Police theorized that the killers may have an ax to grind as the broadcaster was tortured before he was killed. Galit daw talaga ang killer.

The “powerful man theory” came naturally when the Palacios killing is compared with the other cases of slain journalists. Other journalists were felled by bullets which normally took no less than 20 seconds to perform. It was a bang, bang, bang then flee situation.

In the case of Palacios, he was abducted; perhaps told of his mortal sins committed against his killers or the person behind them; beaten to death; and dumped. The killing of Palacios was long and painful and tells us that his killers had all the time in the world to waste, to show that he or they have more power than the broadcaster possessed as a journalist.

As a widower, the pain is gone for Palacios. But for his orphaned children Kristel, 19, Kristian, 15, and Mikey Carmelo Jr., 13, the emotional pain will linger. So will the economic uncertainties. Obviously, the killing of journalists is not only an assault on press freedom – it is a prolonged hostility to the life of a family left in grief.

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