Broadcaster Gerardo Ortega: Slain in Palawan

gerardo ortega
gerardo ortega

Since the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, there are about 141 journalists that are killed, and now, another one journalist is being added. It was Gerardo Ortega, the 47-year old broadcaster and a veterinarian also known as “Doc Gerry” had suffered bullets in the head and body last Monday, January 24, 2011 while he was shopping in a used-clothes store.

Ortega was the anchor of the local affiliate dwAR prime talk show “Ramatak” of the Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN). “Doc Gerry” was the hard-hitting radio commentator since 1986. Fortunately, the suspect, Marlon Dicamata who came from Pagbilao town in Quezon province, was arrested by Ortega’s bodyguard and some crewmen of a firetruck; at first he attempted to flee but was cornered at a nearby parking area.

The authorities had announced that Dicamata has an accomplice, but still remain at large. A police source said investigators were trying to verify reports that the suspect had been contracted for the hit job for P100,000 with a down payment of P10,000.

According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Ortega’s killing may have a direct connection with his work as a media practitioner and his enemies lurk in the many corners of the government bureaucracy which he had criticized in his radio programs. We ask the national government to ensure that the investigation of his murder will not be hindered by outside influences.

“Doc Gerry was more than a radio commentator. He was also a wildlife conservationist, a public servant, an anti-graft crusader—roles which he played with guts, grit and gravitas,” Rep. Antonio Alvarez of Northern Palawan said in a statement.

“He loved Palawan so much that he was the last frontier’s first defender, ready to rise up when it is threatened by those who want to rob it of its natural riches or its share from national wealth,” Alvarez added.

Gerardo Ortega was the third journalist to be murdered under the Aquino administration.

His family is hoping for justice.

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