Fernando Batul

Fernando Batul (24 May 1969 – 22 May 2006), a Filipino journalist and politician, working as a radio broadcaster for the DYPR in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, was known for his commentaries that were critical of politicians, military officials, rival radio commentators and others. Most of his remarks were made towards the mayor's administration about the quality of governance in Palawan. He had many supporters, but he angered many with his commentaries. He was eventually assassinated and shot six times by men on motorcycles while he was driving, just weeks after grenades were found in his home.

Fernando Batul was born on May 24, 1969 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Batul attended Palawan State University where he graduated with a political science degree. He put his degree to use when he jumped right into serving in the government after college. He was killed two days before his 37th birthday.

Fernando Batul began his work in the media in the 1990s when he was just a clerk in Crocodile Farm Inc. He was later given his own program, "Kulog at Kidlat", in 1997 in dySP. Batul became popular and gained many listeners because he showed them that he was just like them. Through his program he established the Kulog at Kidlat Foundation, which was geared towards helping poor people with the cost of medical emergencies and needs. As he became more popular, he decided to run for vice mayor of Puerto Princesa City in 2001 and won. However, when he ran for a second time, he lost to Lucilo Bayron due to an election protest against him. After his defeat for vice mayor, he continued in radio with a program called "Bastonero" at DYPR, which was owned by the Palawan Broadcasting Corporation. Batul was known to report on alleged government corruption and nepotism as he was highly critical of the city government.

Manila

Manila

Puerto Princesa, Palawan is in the Philippines shown here relative to the capital Manila.

Fernando Batul was shot six times by men on motorcycles just 200 meters away from the radio station on May 22, 2006. Just a few weeks before that on April 24, 2006, Batul found two grenades on his property with a threat in the form of a letter pinned to his gate. The letter warned him to "hold his tongue or else his family would suffer harsh consequences." More than ten members of Batul's family were inside his house when they found the grenades. Police were able to detonate them without any harm. His death may have been contributed to his commentaries, which could have sometimes offended local officials. Mayor Edward Hagedorn, one of the officials Batul would talk about, denied involvement with the murder right away and even offered a 2 million peso reward for anyone who could capture his killers. Four witnesses were able to identify Galifardo, a police officer, as one of Batul's killers and he was taken in as a suspect days after Batul's killing. Investigators have been trying to build a case against him since, as he is the prime suspect. Although he tested negative for gunpowder burns, a whole 72 hours had passed since the killing and Galifardo could have been to many places before he had to be tested. Not five hours after Batul's death, Galifardo was listed in a passenger seat leaving Puerto Princesa and going to Manila. Philippine National Police Chief Director, General Arturo Lomibao, to ensure an alright case against Galifardo, while trying to track down the other suspect who was allegedly driving the getaway motorcycle. However, in April 2011, the courts acquitted Galifardo of the crime. Evidence supported that he had left the day of the killing to attend a child support hearing in Camp Crame. With Galifardo having his innocence, the case of the killing of Batul is still left wide open.

Before Batul was murdered, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, 78 reporters were listed that were killed since democracy in the country was restored in 1986. Safety of journalists in the Philippines was becoming more of a concern as the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists said the situation "has gone from bad to worse" after a tabloid photographer was murdered and hours later another journalist was beaten. A total of 120 journalists have been killed in the Philippines in line of duty since 1986 and Batul was the 67th. That means 66 journalists had been murdered before Batul in the Philippines before him in just 20 years. The month before the murder of Batul, he and his sister found grenades in his residence, but police were able to safely detonate them in the yard to prevent any harm. Two other journalists, who were friends, received threats prior to Batul's killing and they fled Palawan because they were worried about their safety. Also, the station where Batul worked, DYPR, once had to hire a security guard to keep angry listeners from attacking a different radio commentator.

Batul's death has impacted people and the society in many ways, from keeping people in hiding and trying to convince their innocence, to people fleeing and striking fear into other journalists. Letty Batul, Fernando Batul's sister, has described that since her brother's killing, many campaign journalists have fled the area. She also pointed out that the murder of her brother and another popular journalist, Gerry Ortega, had silenced serious whistleblowing journalism in the area. Batul's murder is still somewhat of a mystery as people are still questioning who really was behind the murder today. In 2013, Edward Hagedorn was still trying to convince people that he had no connection in the murders of Batul and Ortega. He compared his own situation as someone who has not gone into hiding with others who had fled, like the Reyes brothers who were still in hiding since evidence connected them to the murder of Ortega.

On May 29, 2006, Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, condemned the murder of Fernando "Dong" Batul. In his statement, Matsuura demanded authorities bring the culprits to justice. He said, "It is completely unacceptable that murder be used to silence opinions. Such violence targets not only its individual victims but society as a whole, because open debate and the basic human right of freedom of expression are indispensable fundamental components of democracy and rule of law." as said by Mr. Matsuura while giving his speech on the condemnation of Batul.

Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa dedicated World Communications Day, May 28, to Batul who was active in Church movements. Father Eugene Elivera, who was the director of the local Church's Social Action and Special Concerns office, said on May 26 that all masses that Sunday would be dedicated to the slain Batul.