Press Release
April 25, 2018

De Lima congratulates Reuters' team on EJK reporting

Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has congratulated three journalists at Reuters news agency for winning the prestigious 2018 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting of the brutal police killings in the Philippines under the Duterte regime.

De Lima, the staunchest critic of the administration's war on drugs, commended Filipino Manny Mogato, American Clare Baldwin, and British Andrew R.C. Marshall, for demonstrating fearless reportage on Duterte's anti-drug campaign notwithstanding the pressures that go with it.

"I thank and salute your courage for exposing the truth behind Duterte's murderous drug war which highlighted and aggravated the climate of fear and impunity in the country," she said.

"Despite the threats and challenges, you covered the tragic stories of the victims and revealed how police death squads brazenly carried out most of the killings," she added.

Mogato, Baldwin and Marshall, who were behind Reuters' series called "Duterte's War," won for their "relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs."

Mogato is Reuters' political and general news correspondent in the Philippines while Marshall is the news agency's Southeast Asian correspondent. Baldwin, on her part, is Reuters' Special Correspondent who has investigated the country's drug war since it began in 2016, when Duterte assume presidency.

De Lima said their stories help keep people across the world aware and mindful of the issues hounding the Philippines under the Duterte regime.

"In times when fake news are proliferated for self-interest and our citizens are silenced by fear and intimidation by those in power, your stories served as a tool to enlighten people around the world and to move them to act and address the very central issues that beset the Philippine government and Philippine society," she said.

The Senator from Bicol said she hopes that "others will also display the same passion, courage and perseverance you have in pursuing a fair, truthful and responsible reportage."

News Latest News Feed