This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, DRL/CRA, INR/EAP, EAP/PD 
NSC FOR GREEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS PINR SOCI KPAO RP
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL TEAM INVESTIGATES SLAYINGS OF 
JOURNALISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES 
 
REF: A. MANILA 0312 
 
     ¶B. 04 MANILA 5775 
     ¶C. 04 MANILA 5220 
     ¶D. 04 MANILA 4331 
     ¶E. 04 MANILA 4251 
     ¶F. 04 MANILA 3999 
 
¶1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary:  A fact-finding team organized by the 
Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) 
and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines 
(NUJP) January 24-31 investigated recent media killings (at 
least 13 in 2004).  Its initial conclusions are that there is 
"a widespread culture of violence" in the Philippines that 
allows for killings of those in the media, and that the GRP 
effectively condones this violence.  During the visit, there 
were two more media-related attacks, in which one person was 
killed and another severely injured.  Mission continues to 
urge the GRP to take firm steps to prosecute and convict 
those involved in such slayings.  End Summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) A fact-finding team organized by the IFJ and the 
NUJP (IFJ's local affiliate) January 24-31 investigated the 
numerous attacks on journalists in 2004.  On January 31, 
Poloff met with team members Gerard Noonan, a correspondent 
for the "Sydney Morning Herald," and Carlos Conde, local 
stringer for "The New York Times" and chief of the NUJP, to 
discuss the situation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to Noonan and Conde, the five-member 
IFJ-NUJP team consisted of journalists from Australia, 
Indonesia, and the Philippines and visited General Santos 
City in Mindanao, Cebu and Iloilo in the Central Philippines, 
and Manila and Legazpi in Luzon.  The team met with family 
members of victims and representatives from the Philippine 
National Police (PNP), the Department of Justice, local 
government agencies, and the Commission on Human Rights.  The 
immediate impetus for the fact-finding mission was the 
release of IFJ,s report on worldwide violence against 
journalists and others in the media in early January 2005, 
which noted that the Philippines had recorded 13 killings of 
journalists in 2004, a figure second only to Iraq's.  (Note: 
The GRP's "Task Force Newsmen," which the GRP created in late 
2004 to crack down on the killings, has estimated the number 
of media-related slayings in 2004 at 10, based on different 
definitions of which killings might have been media-related 
and which were not.  Other human rights organizations 
variously cite between 10 to 13 killings. End note) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The team plans to file its final report in about 
two weeks, but its initial conclusion is that &a widespread 
of culture of violence" exists in the Philippines and helps 
fuel the killings.  Mayors in two major cities in the central 
and southern part of the country (Cebu, Davao) have been 
implicated by human rights organizations in vigilante-style 
killings of alleged criminals (reftels).  The 2004 national 
elections included at least 121 killings during the course of 
the campaigns.  Published remarks attributed to police and 
other influential persons, such as former president Estrada, 
have seemed to encourage violence against journalists. 
(Estrada recently indicated that he supported attacks similar 
to one that totally destroyed a news van in January 2005, 
although he said he was not responsible for the initial 
torching.)  The report will emphasize that such a climate has 
"a chilling effect" on working journalists and the practice 
of their craft, and threatens freedom of the press in the 
Philippines. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Echoing conclusions in the initial report, Noonan 
claimed that the GRP's response has been "completely 
unacceptable in a democratic country" like the Philippines. 
Despite repeated pledges from GRP officials to bring 
perpetrators to justice, courts have convicted only one 
person related to any of the estimated 55 killings of 
journalists and others in media-related positions since 1986, 
he noted.  (Note:  Other sources have cited two convictions. 
End note)  Noonan told poloff that he had wanted to discuss 
the team's initial findings with President Arroyo, but her 
office could not arrange an appointment due to her "busy 
schedule." 
 
¶7.  (U) The IFJ-NUJP investigation took place against a 
backdrop of continued media-related violence.  On January 29, 
two unidentified gunmen shot and severely injured the editor 
and publisher of the Tagum City-based "Mindanao Truck News." 
The editor had frequently written commentaries in his regular 
column about corruption, poor government services, and 
illegal logging.  Local police are still investigating the 
case; no arrests have been made.  On January 26, a technician 
at a government-owned radio station in Baguio City was shot 
dead while on his way to work.  Again, there have been no 
arrests so far. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) GRP officials have asserted that the GRP is doing 
its best.  Presidential Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye claimed 
publicly that the "majority" of cases involving slayings of 
journalists have been "solved" by the "Task Force Newsmen" 
and labeled as "misleading" IFJ claims that the Philippines 
is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters. 
Critics have responded that "solving" cases to the GRP often 
means no more than identifying a suspect, not even capture or 
arrest, much less conviction. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Comment:  Mission continues to urge the GRP to 
take firm steps to arrest, prosecute, and convict those 
involved in such slayings.   While media killings indeed have 
had a chilling effect on investigative reporting to some 
degree, some courageous journalists continue to investigate 
sensitive issues such as corruption.  Septel will report on 
one notable NGO -- the Philippine Center for Investigative 
Journalism (PCIJ) -- for which Mission will seek to identify 
channels of funding to provide support. 
Ricciardone