Iloilo press urges PNP to break through broadcaster's murder in Bacolod

Iloilo press urges PNP to break through broadcaster's murder in Bacolod

By SAMMY JULIAN and JEZZA NEPUMUCENO

ILOILO City – Iloilo Press Club (IPC) President Rommel Ynion urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate thoroughly the assassination of hard-hitting radio commentator Niel “Lito” Jimena.

The two motorcycle-riding suspects remain unidentified as of press time.

A half a million pesos reward from IPC awaits anyone who could give information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators and/or mastermind/s, Ynion said.

 Five shells from a caliber .45 were found by police investigators at the crime scene. Forty-two-year-old Jimena was shot late afternoon on Monday in the poblacion of E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental.

The way Jimena was shot showed that the killers were hired assassins, said Ynion.

On his way to Brgy. Alicante, EB Magalona from Iloilo City around 5:30 p.m., Jimena was driving his motorcycle alone when one of the two motorcycle-riding men from behind fired at him.

Ynion, former section editor of The Philippine Star, told Panay News that it is his moral obligation to give justice to Jimena “because he was part of the media organization.”

 “This is another blow to press freedom. Many of our brethren have been killed and the victims and their families have not seen justice,” he said.

 Jimena had worked under the press office of former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., especially during the previous elections.

He was also identified with retired Police Chief Insp. Musa Amiong who was always his companion.

Negros police investigators believe that Jimena’s murder was job-related.

Jimena had recently intimated to friends that he had been receiving death threats.

 A week before he was killed, Jimena told DyOW Bombo Radyo Bacolod in an interview that he may have gotten the ire of a politician in Iloilo due to his hard-hitting commentaries over RMN DyRI denouncing graft and corruption in government.

HARD-HITTING

Jimena was known for his signature stinging – and sometimes “below-the-belt” – commentaries in his radio block-time programs.

“His style of commentary is not enough reason to kill a media practitioner. His life is precious and nobody has the right to take it away from him except God who owns our life. We have many laws on libel and those who feel aggrieved can go to court and let the law punish the offenders,” Ynion said.

Lito was a native of San Rafael, Iloilo. Married with two daughters, he had been residing in Brgy. San Isidro, La Paz, Iloilo City.

His wife is in Singapore working as a domestic helper.

Jimena often visited his modest poultry business in Brgy. Alicante, EB Magalona, Negros Occidental.

Last month, Jimena filed a complaint against Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog before the Ombudsman. He accused Mabilog of illegally reclaiming a 300-square meter area from the Iloilo River and even destroying mangrove growth to make way for the expansion of his residential property in Molo district.

In a two-page complaint-affidavit, Jimena said Mabilog “illegally land-grabbed” the property and appropriated it for his personal use without obtaining a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

More than that, the property falls under the three-meter easement from the bank of the river which could not be used by private individuals, he alleged.

In his complaint, Jimena said he had personal knowledge about the illegal reclamation because Mabilog had contracted him to deliver the earth backfilling materials for the area.

A total of 300 square meters of the river’s bank was backfilled and appended to Mabilog’s residential property, Jimena said.

“Mabilog paid me P78,000 for the soil that I delivered and dumped on the area,” he said.

 Mabilog has denied Jimena’s allegation.

                                                     

Stop culture of impunity

WE, in the Iloilo media, condemn in the strongest possible terms the brutal murder of a colleague in the profession – radio commentator and Iloilo Press Club member Neil Lito Jimena in EB Magalona, Negros Occidental.

Jimena was killed in cold blood by assassins who mercilessly shot him three times in the body and twice in the head. This is clearly the handiwork of hired hit men, professional assassins working against the interest of press freedom.

Even as we deeply mourn the loss of a fallen colleague and express our condolences to his bereaved family, we strongly urge the Philippine National Police and all other law enforcement authorities to look deeply into the circumstances behind Jimena’s slay so that the perpetrators can be quickly identified and brought before the bar of justice.

We urge those who may have valuable knowledge or information regarding this case to come forward so that the truth behind the dastardly deed can see the light of day. For this reason, the Iloilo Press Club is offering a P500,000 reward for any information that will lead to the arrest of Jimena’s killers and their masterminds.

We pray not only for Jimena but all other members of media in this country who have been victims to similar fate. We urge the national government to finally put an end to the culture of impunity that continues to haunt members of the country’s fourth estate.

To our colleagues in the fourth estate, as we seek to uphold the sanctity of press freedom in a democratic society, let us all remain vigilant and keep constantly in mind that those who speak in the language of guns and violence have no place in our community.

 (SGD.) ROMMEL S. YNION
President, Iloilo Press Club

‘Matuwid Na Daan’ not enough; there must be ‘Matigas Na Daan’

August 23, 2011

Statement of National Press Club President Jerry S. Yap

‘Matuwid Na Daan’ not enough;

there must be ‘Matigas Na Daan’

Until the number has risen to become “UNLUCKY NINE,” it has become clear that “Matuwid Na Daan” of President P-Noy is not enough.  There must also be “Matigas Na Daan.”

With the sad reality that there are unwanted “check points” along “Matuwid Na Daan,” the most the National Press Club of the Philippines can do now is to mourn for the death of another journalist, this time in Bacolod City.

Niel Aranga is the ninth in the list of journalists killed since Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III took oath on July 1, 2010 as the President of the Philippines.

The bullets that ended the life of Jimena proved not of the incompetence of the administration of P-Noy to stop senseless acts of killing journalists.  Rather, it is more of a proof of lack of respect and insult to him by the local warlords, gambling lords, drug lords, and lords of other evils.

There is no respect and there is insult for every bullet fired against every one among press freedom practitioners, who now play as the true lifeblood of the public thirst for good governance.

Despite the blood of the ninth journalist that watered our land, the Task Force Usig appears force-less and faceless. As if, it is doing nothing. There is no development at all in all other cases of brutality committed against journalists.

Thus, the NPC is appealing to the President and the lawmakers to pass the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI Bill) without any “Information Commission” that will only act as the censor whether the requested public documents were to be released or not.

The NPC strongly believes that the FOI Bill can help not only to promote transparency in the government but also strengthen the crusade to lessen if not end the crimes against the public, against the journalists.

A radio block-timer from La Paz, Iloilo, Jimena was gunned down late Monday afternoon by one of the two men on board a motorcycle in EB Magalona town, about 24 km from Bacolod City.

Jimena, 42, moved to Hacienda Teresa, Barangay Alicante in EB Magalona after becoming a block-timer for the defunct dyRP in Iloilo and dyAG in Cadiz City in Negros Occidental.

He was set to start on August 23, 2011 another block-time program at dyRI of Radio Mindanao Network in Iloilo City.

The police said Jimena was heading north to Bacolod on board his motorcycle about 5:30 p.m. when two men on board another motorcycle chased and fired at him in Hacienda San Jose, Barangay Damgo, EB Magalona.

The chase continued until Jimena’s vehicle fell on its side in Barangay 3 Poblacion, said Cobing.

Jimena suffered five gunshot wounds in the back from a .45-caliber pistol. He was brought to the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City where physicians declared him dead on arrival.

The eight other journalists murdered under the administration of P-Noy are as follows:

1.      July 3, 2010 -- 75-year-old radio commentator and community journalist Jose Daguio was shot dead at 8 p.m. while having a dinner inside his house in Barangay Tuga, Tabuk, Kalinga.  The police claimed he was killed by known cattle rustlers.

2.      July 9, 2010 -- Miguel Belen, field reporter of DWEB FM station in Nabua, Camarines Sur, was shot at along Zone 3, Barangay San Jose Pagaraon, Nabua at 8:30 p.m.

3.      August 1, 2010 – Edilberto Cruz, publisher of Salida tabloid in Nueva Ecija, was shot in the evening while driving a motorcycle along Maharlika Highway in Barangay San Juan Accfa, Cabanatuan City

4.      December 10, 2010 – Edison Flameniana Sr., columnist of Mindanao Inquirer was shot dead on December 10, 2010 in Tabudok, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur

5.      January 24, 2011 -- Dr. Gerry “Doc Gerry” Ortega was shot dead while inside an Ukay-Ukay Store in Puerto Princesa, after coming from his radio program

6.      February 1, 2011 – Cirilo Gallardo, 38, a broadcaster of DWWW Spirit 96.9 FM and a teacher of the Divine Word College, a resident of Barangay Velasco, Tayum, Abra, was found dead with 13 stab wounds inside his room at the transmitter site of the radio station in Barangay Bangbangar, Bangued, Abra.

7.      March 24, 2011 – Len Flores Somera was shot dead on the nape in Maysilo, Malabon City while she was waiting for a ride to her radio program over DZME.

8.      June 13, 2011 – Romeo Olea, reporter-announcer of DWEB-FM based on Nabua town, who is also a writer-reporter of Bicol Mail, a regional newspaper, was shot at 5:30 p.m. while driving his motorcycle.  The incident occurred in front of Holy Child Learning Center at the Iriga-Nabua boundary while on his way to report to work.  He sustained two gunshot wounds in the stomach of a 9-mm gun.

9.      August 22, 2011 – Niel Aranga Jimena was shot dead at 5:30 p.m. by two men riding in tandem on a motorcycle while the victim was driving his own motorcycle in EB Magalona in the direction of Bacolod City.  A native of La Paz, Iloilo City who moved to Hacienda Teresa in EB Magalona town was an anchorman at the defunct dyRP in Iloilo and dyAG in Cadiz City.   Moments before his death, Jimena was preparing to broadcast as a block-timer at dyRI of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), according to his friend Larry Trinidad, a reporter of dyHB of RMN in Bacolod.  Police said that a brief chase occurred first before the anchorman’s motorcycle fell on its side in Barangay 3, Poblacion in EB Magalona.   The police added that the victim appeared to be calling for help when he was finally gunned down.