Arrests over media murder
June 8, 2017 · By sundayex.catholic.org.hk
MANILA (UCAN): The governor of Catanduanes, Joseph Cua, an aide, Prince Lim Subion, and police officer, Vincent Tacorda, were charged with murder in The Philippines on the eve of International Press Freedom Day, for the murder of a journalist, Larry Que, on December 19 last year.
The publisher of Catanduanes News Now is the first media person whose death has been directly linked with his work, as he was murdered two weeks after he published an article linking government officials to the illegal drug trade in his province.
Although the arrests were made by the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, a new body set up by the president, Rodrigo Duterte, Reporters Without Borders warned that the insults and open threats against the media by Duterte do not bode well.
While describing the Philippine media as fairly free and diverse, it said Duterte alarms media freedom defenders with his blatant encouragement of violence against journalists.
