The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has dispatched its own team to investigate the killing last Oct. 30 of journalist Orlando “Dondon” Dinoy in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
“Killings perpetrated against the media foster a chilling effect and help breed a climate of impunity,” the CHR said through Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia.
“A silenced media hampers the free flow of information and deprives the Filipino citizenry of much-needed information critical for discernment in national affairs,” the commission stressed.
Based on reports, De Guia said that a gunman forcibly barged into Dinoy’s rented apartment on Mother Ignacia Street in Poblacion Uno in Bansalan town and shot the journalist several times. Dinoy was dead on the spot.
Dinoy was a reporter for Newsline Philippines in Davao City and hosted a radio program over the Digos City-based Energy FM.
He was also a former correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Sun.Star SuperBalita.
“Currently, no motive for his killing has been established, but due to the nature of the crime and profession of the victim, the CHR will be looking closely into his line of work and his previous contacts,” De Guia, a lawyer, said.
“It is especially disappointing that such incident occurs as we commemorate today, Nov. 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists,” she lamented.
“There is impunity (in media killings) when there is no accountability for crimes committed,” she stressed.
She recalled the probe conducted by the CHR on other media killings the past six months. She cited those perpetrated against lawyer Gilda Mahinay Sapie and her husband Muhaimen Mohammed Sapie, and Renante "Rey" Cortes.
Sadly, she noted, the three killings have not been solved by the authorities.
The Sapie couple was gunned down outside their house in a gated subdivision in Davao City last July 14. They were hosts of a radio program “Justice Redemmer” which provided free legal advice, tackled general legal issues, and aired opinions on political matters.
Cortes, on the other hand, was a radio commentator of DYRB Radyo Pilipino in Cebu City. He was killed reportedly by riding-in-tandem assailants in front of the radio station in Mambaling.
De Guia said the CHR expressed its hope that the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) will pave the way for the arrest of the perpetrators of media killings.
For its part, De Guia said, the CHR will continue to work with local authorities in investigating all potential leads.