REVILLA CONDEMNS LATEST ATTACK ON MEDIA

Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. today strongly denounced the senseless shooting of a radio station manager in Bacolod City which he said will further fuel anger against the government's apparent laxity in protecting members of the Fourth State .

According to the senator, the peace and order situation in country is getting worse every day for even members of the media are becoming easy targets of elimination.

He cited the incident involving Bacolod GMA Radio Station Manager Ferdinand "Bambi" Yngson, who was shot early Wednesday morning and is now in serious condition.

Police arrested the identified as Romeo Corgo, reportedly a deputized officer of the Land Transportation Office. Yngson was said to had been criticizing "under the table transactions" at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) prior to the incident.

Revilla lamented that despite the arrest of the gunman, the government can not deny the fact that media men in the Philippines are easy prey to assailants.

"The PNP must act at once to curb media attack which is becoming a common incident in the country for the past years. We have a long list of unsolved case of media slays," he said.

Based on initial reports, Yngson suffered at least one gunshot wound to his chest near the stomach.

Revilla pointed out that the shooting of Yngson happened just three weeks after another radioman, DYRB commentator Geruncio "Oscar" Mondejar died after being shot by unidentified man on board a motorcycle in Mandaue City .

"Because of the escalation of media murders, the Philippines is still among the countries branded as press freedom violator. That's why I fully support the President's call to institutionalize harsher penalties for perpetrators of extra-judicial killings. " he said.

The senator also asked the Presidential Task Force Against Media Harassment (PTFAMH) to perform its mission of solving media slayings. The task force, headed by Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco, was created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to address the wave of media killings in the country that has drawn international criticisms. The senator is currently studying proposals to increase penalties against violence on media practitioners.

It could be recalled that last April, Mark Palacios of Radyo ng Bayan was killed in Nueva Ecija. Vincent Sumalpong, also of the said government-run radio network, was also killed in Tawi-tawi last month.