The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on Monday said it is looking into an election-related angle in the killing of community journalist Orlando “Don Don” Dinoy in Davao del Sur.
Dinoy was shot dead Saturday night inside his residence in Bansalan town. He was a Newsline.ph reporter, a former Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Sunstar Davao correspondent, and an Energy FM block-time anchor in Digos City.
“What I can confirm is that it’s one of the angles that we’re looking at. Siguro ganto lang (Maybe I’ll put it this way): He was actually planning to run for vice mayor,” PTFOMS chief Joel Sy Egco said in an interview on ANC’s “Rundown.”
“Tapos kinausap lang siya nung mga kaibigan, ‘Wag na, ‘wag ka nang tumuloy’. Then, hindi nga siya nag-file. So we’re looking at it, we’re looking at it, kung sino yung mga kaaway niya d’yan (Then his friends talked to him, and told him not to push through with it. So, he did
not file for his candidacy. So we’re looking at it. We’re looking at his enemies there),” said Egco.
Egco said violence against members of the media, including those who choose to shift from journalism to politics, tends to spike six months before and after an election.
“Alam ninyo, ang masakit po sa’kin, last week lang, nag-webinar kami, with Davao-based media ano… Ang ating webinar is about how to safely cover during the pandemic and the 2022 elections because, on our inventory, based on our study, yung sa task force, six months before and six months after every elections, tumataas, ‘no, may spike sa media violence, harassment, etc. (What’s painful is that just last week, we held a webinar with Dava-based media… It was about how to safely cover during the pandemic and the 2022 elections because, on our inventory, based on our study, by the task force, six months before and six months after every elections, there’s a spike in media violence, harassment, etc.),” he said.
“It’s a pattern, actually. That is why every elections, nagha-heightened alert ang task force. So we discuss with the PNP, with the AFP, the NBI, bantayan nating mabuti. Ang una po nating binabantayan, yung mga media halimbawa na tumatakbo (That is why every elections, the task force goes on heightened alert. So we discuss with the PNP, the AFP, the NBI to be on alert. And we watch out for for media personalities who run for public office.),” Egco said.
However, Egco said that they are not ruling out the possibility that Dinoy’s death was also work-related.
Egco said he spoke with Edith Caduaya, a Mindanao-based journalist who worked with Dinoy, who, according to him, said she does not know of anyone who might have had it in for the late pressman.
“So sabi ko, ‘Hukayin ko muna yan, sinong binanatan niya sa Newsline.’ Sabi niya, ‘Wala, because ano siya eh, member of the LGBT and wala siyang kaaway’ (So I said, let’s dig deeper, who is he attacking on Newsline. She said, ‘No one, because he’s a member of the LGBT community and has no known enemies’.),” he said.
Egco said they are committed to finding Dinoy’s killer. He said he is in talks with the police for the formation of a task force looking into Dinoy’s killing, regardless of what may have led to it.
“Anytime soon, we’re going to activate the special investigation task group Dinoy,” Egco said.
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines chair Jonathan de Santos said they welcome the authorities’ investigation into Dinoy’s death.
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Rowena Niña Taduran on Monday meanwhile pushed for the enactment of the Media Workers Welfare Bill that provides enhanced protection, security, and benefits for media workers.
Taduaran, a broadcast journalist, made the call as another journalist was attacked and killed in Davao del Sur.
Tadura, principal author of House Bill 8140 or the proposed Media Workers’ Welfare Act, also called for a deeper investigation and speedy action on the death of Dinoy who was gunned down.
“The passage of the Bill on Media Workers Welfare will be a big contribution in protecting the rights of all who work in media, whether in front or behind the scenes,” said Taduran.
The legislator also voiced concern over the other still unsolved murders of media persons in the country which the Global ImpunityIndex is currently observing.
Last year, two journalists have also been gunned down while the country is reeling from the Covid 19 pandemic. Cornelio Pepino, a radio broadcaster in Negros, was shot pointblank by 2 assailants in May while Jobert Bercasio, online broadcaster, was gunned down by two motorcycle riders in Sorsogon City in September.
In January 2021, The House approved the proposed Media Workers’ Welfare Act.
Under the measure, media workers shall be covered by the Social Security System, the Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-IBIG Fund, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. upon employment.
Employers shall provide additional insurance coverage to media workers, including death benefit of P200,000, disability benefit of P200,000, and medical insurance benefit of P100,000.
It guarantees security of tenure to media workers after the probationary work period of six months of continuous work.
The measure also provides that the Department of Labor and Employment shall be mandated as the agency in charge of monitoring compliance with the provisions of the proposed law.
The bill also calls for the creation of a News Media Tripartite Council that shall serve as a link among stakeholders, provides a platform where media workers and employers can agree upon mutually beneficial policies that will promote the interests of the media industry, and serve as an avenue to express their aspirations, discuss their programs, or settle conflicts. With Maricel V. Cruz