Clamor for justice still on 5 years after Esperat slay

As they marked the fifth year of Marlene Esperat’s murder, journalists from here and abroad renewed their call for justice for the slain Mindanao journalist. The journalists noted that the suspects in the case, Osmeña Montaner and Estrella Sabay, are back with the Department of Agriculture (DA) where they are employed. “It is not as if the justice system has no suspects. The suspected masterminds are both government employees, and have in fact returned to their place of work in the Department of Agriculture," the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said in a joint statement Both Montaner and Sabay denied involvement in the case. Last month, their petition asking for the suspension of the arrest warrants issued against them was granted by the Court of Appeals. Esperat was killed in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat province, in March 2005 reportedly after exposing corruption in the DA regional office in Cotabato City. The media groups said that unless the suspected masterminds are prosecuted, the atmosphere of impunity that led to several journalists’ killings in the country will go on. “For so long as these suspected masterminds are not prosecuted, for so long will the Esperat case be among the most severe cases of impunity in the killing of journalists in the Philippines – and for so long will the killers of journalists be encouraged to kill and kill again," they said. They added that Esperat’s killing “resonates with the echoes of a larger conspiracy," referring to the P728-million fertilizer scam in 2004 involving then Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante, who is running for governor in Capiz in the May 10 elections. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) last year said the Philippines has become the most dangerous place for journalists in the world following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province. Thirty-two of the victims were media practitioners. Blamed for the massacre were members of the powerful Ampatuan political family. - JA/KBK, GMANews.TV