Philippines: Suspect in the 2001 killing of provincial journalist arrested

Barrios first dismissed the case for lack of probable cause on 6 December 2004, and again on 10 February 2005 after Emely filed a motion for reconsideration.

Barrios rejected the testimony of eyewitness and “balut” vendor Gerson Sonio, who claimed he was ten meters from where Ureta was shot. (”Balut”, or boiled duck embryo, is a Filipino delicacy sold by ambulatory street vendors.) Sonio’s testimony was contradicted by the testimonies of Perlito Sonio, his father, and of Diego Masangya, his uncle, who contended that Sonio was in Iloilo City at the time of the killing.

The 16 January 2007 resolution by the DoJ however said that “(w)eighed against the denials and alibis of respondents, said witness’ affirmative testimony is stronger than a negative one.”

The case has the potential of being the first of its kind to be tried in a special court should the DoJ deny the motion for reconsideration of the accused. Through Administrative Order 25-2007, Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno has created 99 special courts across the country to try and decide cases involving the killing of political activists and members of the media. Cases tried in special courts will undergo marathon hearings within 60 days and without postponements, with a decision to be issued no later than 30 days after.

The Ureta case is among those the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ), a coalition of six media organizations formed in 2003 in response to the rising incidence of media killings, is helping prosecute through various forms of assistance to the survivors. FFFJ is composed of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Philippine Press Institute, the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Philippine Broadcasters), the Center for Community Journalism and Development, and the US-based newspaper The Philippine News.

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