OZAMIZ CITY--The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in Misamis Occidental receives with comfort the conviction of the accused killer of a radio broadcaster from Pagadian City in 2005, who was a key witness in the killing of Edgar Damalerio.
A statement emailed to this paper by the media chapter president, Ryan Rosauro, called the ruling of a Cebu regional trial court convicting Mohammad “Madix” Maulana as “a victory for justice for his family and colleagues” who have anxiously waited for justice in the last four years.
Maulana was found guilty of killing Edgar Amoro, a freelance broadcaster of DxKP and a friend of Damalerio, on Feb. 2, 2005 in front of the gate of Zamboanga del Sur National High School.
Maulana was sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay Amoro’s family of some P195,000. In handing the decision, the court gave weight to the testimony of Amoro's wife, Erlinda, who said she heard her husband utter the name “Madix” while lying bloodied on the ground.
The convicted killer, a known gun-for-hire, claimed in his defense during the hearings that he could not have killed Amoro as he was in Dinas attending a wedding when the crime happened.
Amoro witnessed the murder of Damalerio on May 13, 2002 in which an ex-police officer, Guillermo Wapile, was later convicted with a life sentence in November 2005.
Two other witnesses, a responding police officer and a barangay tanod, have positively identified Maulana as one of the three killers who shot Amoro.
NUJP and other media watchdogs believed Amoro was killed by accomplices of Wapile at a time when the prosecution for the Damalerio murder was ongoing—an attempt—they said, to cripple the legal battle against its perpetrators.
“The conviction of Maulana comes at a time when the Philippine media community is still experiencing the hangover of the brutality committed against some 32 colleagues who were massacred in Ampatuan, Maguindanao November 23 last year. It is therefore a whiff of good news!” Rosauro said in the statement.
“As we celebrate this success, we note the remaining challenge in confronting the problem of journalist-killings which is directly tied to a pervading culture of impunity throughout the country,” Rosauro continued.
He implied the challenge that needs to be confronted to as both the “inadequate competence of enforcing the law fairly” and “weaknesses in the justice system” which conspired to create the social atmosphere that resulted in 137 journalist-murders from 1986 up to the end of 2009.
The Maulana conviction is the sixth case so far among nearly 100 cases that was successfully prosecuted, although these only involved the gunmen and no masterminds, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) noted.
“The challenge of prosecuting the other cases is admittedly enormous. We hope to count on a vigilant public’s support in this quest for justice, and to protect the journalism profession which has been an important aspect of our democratic society,” Rosauro concluded.
Meanwhile, the Pagadian City chapter of NUJP and Zamboanga del Sur Pagadian City Press Club Inc. (ZPPI) released their joint statements “jubilantly appreciating the verdict.”
“We are grateful to the courts on the verdict, even if the same does not assuage the pain in the hearts of both the bereaved families of Amoro and Damalerio because the truth of the matter is that the real masterminds of these killings were not as yet been brought to court for them to pay the crime,” the two media organizations said.
According to NUJP, there are already 104 journalists killed since 1986, including the victims of the Maguindanao massacre in November last year.
REPORT BY MICHAEL MEDINA
A statement emailed to this paper by the media chapter president, Ryan Rosauro, called the ruling of a Cebu regional trial court convicting Mohammad “Madix” Maulana as “a victory for justice for his family and colleagues” who have anxiously waited for justice in the last four years.
Maulana was found guilty of killing Edgar Amoro, a freelance broadcaster of DxKP and a friend of Damalerio, on Feb. 2, 2005 in front of the gate of Zamboanga del Sur National High School.
Maulana was sentenced to reclusion perpetua and ordered to pay Amoro’s family of some P195,000. In handing the decision, the court gave weight to the testimony of Amoro's wife, Erlinda, who said she heard her husband utter the name “Madix” while lying bloodied on the ground.
The convicted killer, a known gun-for-hire, claimed in his defense during the hearings that he could not have killed Amoro as he was in Dinas attending a wedding when the crime happened.
Amoro witnessed the murder of Damalerio on May 13, 2002 in which an ex-police officer, Guillermo Wapile, was later convicted with a life sentence in November 2005.
Two other witnesses, a responding police officer and a barangay tanod, have positively identified Maulana as one of the three killers who shot Amoro.
NUJP and other media watchdogs believed Amoro was killed by accomplices of Wapile at a time when the prosecution for the Damalerio murder was ongoing—an attempt—they said, to cripple the legal battle against its perpetrators.
“The conviction of Maulana comes at a time when the Philippine media community is still experiencing the hangover of the brutality committed against some 32 colleagues who were massacred in Ampatuan, Maguindanao November 23 last year. It is therefore a whiff of good news!” Rosauro said in the statement.
“As we celebrate this success, we note the remaining challenge in confronting the problem of journalist-killings which is directly tied to a pervading culture of impunity throughout the country,” Rosauro continued.
He implied the challenge that needs to be confronted to as both the “inadequate competence of enforcing the law fairly” and “weaknesses in the justice system” which conspired to create the social atmosphere that resulted in 137 journalist-murders from 1986 up to the end of 2009.
The Maulana conviction is the sixth case so far among nearly 100 cases that was successfully prosecuted, although these only involved the gunmen and no masterminds, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) noted.
“The challenge of prosecuting the other cases is admittedly enormous. We hope to count on a vigilant public’s support in this quest for justice, and to protect the journalism profession which has been an important aspect of our democratic society,” Rosauro concluded.
Meanwhile, the Pagadian City chapter of NUJP and Zamboanga del Sur Pagadian City Press Club Inc. (ZPPI) released their joint statements “jubilantly appreciating the verdict.”
“We are grateful to the courts on the verdict, even if the same does not assuage the pain in the hearts of both the bereaved families of Amoro and Damalerio because the truth of the matter is that the real masterminds of these killings were not as yet been brought to court for them to pay the crime,” the two media organizations said.
According to NUJP, there are already 104 journalists killed since 1986, including the victims of the Maguindanao massacre in November last year.
REPORT BY MICHAEL MEDINA
