Following last year’s massacre of more than 50 journalists in an ambush in the Philippines, the situation in the country for media professionals still remains grim.
In the past week alone, three journalists have been gunned down and killed.
During the U.S. State Department’s weekly press briefing on June 21, spokesman Philip Crowley commented on the situation, saying:
“…we deplore the killings of journalists and urge the Philippine authorities to move quickly to bring those responsible to justice. We note that just this weekend was tragically the third in a string of recent attacks on journalists. Greater progress must be made to halt such killings. We will continue to raise this point with our Philippine counterparts and support efforts to build government capacity to investigate and prosecute these crimes.”
The victims include newspaper reporter Nestor Bedolido, radio broadcaster Desidario Camangyan, and radio reporter Joselito Agustin.