Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary for Barangay Operations Martin Diño on Saturday asserted news outlets play a vital role in highlighting certain crimes producing positive results for victims.
In a recent interview over ABS-CBN, Diño particularly mentioned the case of Baby Echagaray, a minor raped by her stepfather.
When the case gained media coverage, Diño said successive cases of similar nature soon came out in the open including the Vizconde massacre and the rape-slay of a University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student.
The DILG official also recalled seeking help from ABS-CBN broadcaster Noli de Castro on another rape case that happened in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan around that time, which, he said, saw the conviction of the suspect who was a mayor.
In past cases, Diño said perpetrators would simply silence their victims with threats but with “broadcast media like ABS-CBN and its radio component DZMM’’ allowing crime victims a platform, this is not easily done as before.
Stressing his point, Diño said legitimate media outlets with upstanding reporters often help act as effective crime deterrent.
“Kung nakatutok sa iyo ang media at yung news na hindi natatakot at hindi nababayaran, nagkakaroon talaga ng magandang resulta (If the media has its eyes on you and the news have no fear and cannot be bribed, then it will really produce good results),’’ Diño said.