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A Decade of Defiance: Media Freedom Coalition Demands Action on Journalist Impunity
November 1, 2024
November 1, 2024 – Philippines –
Thirteen years after the assassination of Filipino journalist Gerry Ortega, international press freedom groups are demanding a swift trial to finally deliver justice. In a joint statement, Free Press Unlimited, IFEX, and other media rights organizations called on the Philippine judiciary to act decisively and end years of legal delays that have denied accountability in one of the country’s most emblematic cases of impunity.
Gerry Ortega, an environmentalist and investigative broadcaster, was gunned down in January 2011 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. He had been a vocal critic of corruption in the local mining industry and had exposed abuses involving powerful political and business figures. While the gunman and several accomplices were quickly apprehended, the case against alleged mastermind Joel Reyes, a former provincial governor, has dragged on for over a decade through a maze of appeals, reversals, and retrials.
In 2019, Reyes was convicted, only for the conviction to be overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022. A retrial was ordered, but human rights groups argue the justice process has been weaponized to delay accountability indefinitely. The Ortega family has spent over a decade fighting in court, while supporters argue that continued legal stalling is eroding public faith in the rule of law and emboldening future attacks on journalists.
Free Press Unlimited and IFEX stress that Ortega’s case is more than a personal tragedy—it is a test of the Philippine government’s resolve to combat impunity. The Philippines remains one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, with over 50 killings since 1986 and a chronic lack of convictions. Ortega’s case, if resolved swiftly and transparently, could set a precedent for justice and deterrence.
The groups are calling for a fast-tracked, transparent trial with full legal protections for witnesses and the Ortega family. They urge authorities to act before the upcoming national elections in 2025, warning that further delays risk making a mockery of justice.
More than a decade later, the question remains painfully simple: how long must justice wait? For Gerry Ortega’s family, colleagues, and the press community, the time for answers—and convictions—is now.
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