Impunity Spotlight: The Philippines
Gerardo Ortega, DWAR
January 24, 2011, in Puerto Princesa City, Philippines
Ortega, host of a talk show on local radio station DWAR, was shot in the back of the head as he was shopping in a Puerto Princesa City clothing store shortly after his morning broadcast, according to local and international news reports. Ortega, 47, had recently received death threats from an unknown source, according to The Associated Press. The journalist had openly criticized local officials accused of corruption and had opposed provincial mining projects, news reports said.
Read more about Gerardo Ortega.
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The Philippines is #4 on CPJ’s 2015 Impunity Index, which calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population. This month CPJ is highlighting cases from each of the 14 countries on the list ahead of the International Day to End Impunity on November 2.
The Philippines
Though it has dropped to fourth from third on the Impunity Index, the Philippines remains the only country within the top five impunity offenders not engulfed by conflict and acute political instability. At least 44 murders have taken place since September 2005 with complete impunity; seven have occurred under the current administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Justice for the 32 media victims and 26 others slaughtered in the 2009 massacre in Maguindanao appears moreelusive than ever. No one has yet been convicted of the crime and, after six years of protracted legal proceedings, the suspected mastermind has now died of natural causes. The 2013 conviction of the gunman who assassinated investigative journalist Gerardo Ortega was a welcome advance, but the two former politicians accused of commissioning the crime have not yet stood trial.
IMPUNITY INDEX RATING: 0.444 unsolved journalist murders per million inhabitants
LAST YEAR: Ranked 3rd with a rating of 0.527