What happened to the so-called super body that will solve media killings?
A group of media practitioners will ask President Benigno Aquino III this question Tuesday afternoon when it meets with him in Malacañang.
"Noong una, sa kanya okay. After a while nagtaka ako dahil lumambot ang position (First, he said he is in favor of a super body. Now I am wondering why he seems to have softened his position)," National Press Club auditor Rolando "Rolly" Gonzalo said in his program on dwIZ radio early Tuesday.
He said Aquino's recent statements indicate he is now more inclined to merely "strengthen" the existing task forces of two government agencies.
These include Task Force 211 of the Department of Justice, and Task Force Usig of the Philippine National Police.
Gonzalo said NPC officials will seek a clarification from Aquino on what he plans to do to stop media killings
"Ang sinasabi ngayon palakasin ang Task Force 211 ng DOJ at Task Force Usig ng PNP (Now Aquino is saying he will just strengthen Task Force 211 and Task Force Usig)," he said.
At least two journalists have been killed since Aquino assumed the presidency on June 30.
Last July 3, Radyo Natin Tabuk reporter-commentator Jose Daguio, 75, was shot dead in his home in Tabuk in Kalinga province — the first media fatality under Aquino's watch.
A week later, Bicol broadcaster Miguel Belen was shot and wounded in an ambush. Belen died last weekend at a Bicol hospital.
During the nine-year Arroyo administration, over 100 journalists were killed. — RSJ,
