Saturday, January 18, 2014

Philippines: Journalist death toll rises in Philippines

At least 22 journalists have been killed since President Benigno Aquino took office in the Philippines in 2010.Twenty-nine journalists died in the Maguindanao massacre of 2009, implicating one of the country's most powerful families, the Ampatuans.Years later, witnesses who testify against them continue to be killed and the case remains tied up in the courts.The Committee to Protect Journalists says the Philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to report. And Human Rights Watch blames a failing justice system and a lack of political desire to go after the killers for the country's high journalist death toll.Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan reports from north Cotabato.