TAGUM CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 21, 2013) – Journalists here held an indignation rally and pressed for the Aquino government to stop the killings of media workers in the Philippines.
The rally was held a day after journalists buried slain radio broadcaster Rogelio Butalid, who was gunned down in Tagum City.
Journalists headed by Greg Ybanez, president of the Davao del Norte Press, Radio, and TV Club, condemned the murder and demanded justice for the senseless killing of Butalid.
Tagum Mayor Allan Rellon also joined the journalists in their call for justice. Other groups, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines represented by lawyer Luel Mendez; the United Taxpayers Against Crime headed by Cesar Cuntapay, the BUGKOS Media, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Bombo Radyo Philippines, and other civil society organizations also supported the rally.
The murder of Butalid remains unsolved and so were dozens of killings the past years.
Police have recently released a computerized facial composite of Butalid’s killer based on description provided by witnesses. (With a report from Joey Sem Dalumpines)