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September 11, 2024 – Philippines –
Former Palawan Governor Joel T. Reyes—the alleged mastermind behind the 2011 killing of environmental journalist Gerry Ortega—surrendered to authorities in Metro Manila after evading arrest for over 13 years. Ortega, a popular broadcast reporter known for exposing political corruption on Palawan Island, was shot dead on January 24, 2011, shortly after challenging Reyes’s administration.
A coalition of leading press freedom organizations—Free Press Unlimited, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF)—welcomed Reyes’s arrest and urged the Philippines to expedite a swift and impartial trial. They emphasized that “justice for the Ortega family” has been long delayed, and this moment presents a crucial opportunity to address entrenched impunity in journalist murders.
Reyes had been a fugitive despite a 2023 arrest warrant issued by Palawan courts following a directive from the Supreme Court. He surrendered after securing a court order transferring his trial from Palawan to Quezon City. The Ortega family, however, opposed this move, but their appeal was dismissed, and a trial date in Quezon City has yet to be scheduled.
The advocacy coalition, known as “A Safer World for the Truth,” has been investigating Ortega’s murder since 2020, providing new evidence and meeting with Philippine authorities earlier in 2024 to support the legal proceedings.. They emphasize the case’s larger significance: since democracy returned in 1986, at least 96 journalists have been killed in the Philippines, making it one of the world’s deadliest countries for media workers.
Press freedom advocates stress that a speedy, transparent trial against Reyes is essential not just for the Ortega family but for signaling that powerful figures will no longer escape accountability. As CPJ and its partners note, the world is watching—justice delayed in journalist killings undermines public trust and emboldens future attacks.
The arrest of Reyes marks a pivotal moment in the fight against impunity in the Philippines—a national test of democratic rule of law and the protection of journalists.
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