The private prosecutor in the Marlene Garcia-Esperat murder case has urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately serve the warrants for the arrest of alleged masterminds of the crime.
Lawyer Nena Santos, a personal friend of Esperat who is collaborating with government prosecutors in the case, said that no arrest has yet been made on Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay despite the issuance of arrest warrants for them on February 4.
Both the national and regional offices of the PNP were furnished the arrest warrants, Santos disclosed in the sidelines of an international conference on "Impunity and Press Freedom" in Makati City late last week.
The warrants were issued by Cebu Regional Trial Court Branch 7 where the murder case against the two alleged masterminds was lodged on February 1.
The accused are officials of the agriculture department's regional office in Central Mindanao. Montañer is the department's finance chief while Sabay is an accountant.
"I am afraid we will end up prosecuting the case without the masterminds," Santos said.
Of the hundreds of cases of journalist killings in the country, only four have identified masterminds. The Esprat case could be considered a landmark because the alleged masterminds had been identified and charged before the court.
The Esperat murder is one of only two cases of journalist killings successfully prosecuted, the other one being that of Pagadian City broadcaster Edgar Damalerio who was gunned down in 2002.
Suspects question case
Esperat, a journalist for the weekly Midland Review, was gunned down inside her house in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, while having dinner with her family on March 24, 2005.
Probers believe she was believed killed because of her exposés on the fertilizer scam.
Sabay and Montañer have earlier questioned the issuance of arrest warrants against them, citing that their case with the Tacurong Regional Trial Court for the same incident was already dismissed on Aug. 31, 2005.
However, Judge Simeon Dumdum upheld the issuance of the arrest warrants saying his court has jurisdiction of the case per Supreme Court directive transferring it from Tacurong to Cebu.
In October 2006, the Cebu RTC Branch 21 convicted four perpetrators of the Esperat killing, in a record trial speed for a case involving a slain journalist.
Sentenced to life imprisonment were Estanislao Bismanos, Gerry Cabayag, Randy Fernandez-Grecia and Rowie Barua.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed Dumdum's decision, saying it means a lot for the speedy prosecution of the people behind the Esperat murder.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippine, an IFJ affiliate, had listed some 91 journalists and media workers killed in the country since 1986, 54 of which happened during the incumbency of President Arroyo.
A study done by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility showed that 90 percent of those killed tried to expose government corruption. Ryan D. Rosauro
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