MANILA – USA Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney
has expressed her concern over the rise in extra-judicial killings and urged
authorities to take enough measures to stop them.
In a visit to Camp Crame,
Kenney said government should act on the killings, especially those involving
activists, journalists, and government officials.
“Of course, our countries take very seriously
the rule of law and the importance of citizens being able to express their
views freely and fairly, the importance of apprehending criminals, but also
fair judicial process,” Kenney told reporters.
Kenney met with PNP chief Arturo Lomibao
and other officials but she did not disclose details of the talks. She only
said her government is elated over the assurance that government will take
actions.
“Those are the issues I talked about with
everyone on the Philippines
and I am pleased to see that Philippine officials also seem to take that
seriously... I won’t go into specifics. My conversations are private,”
Kenney said.
More than 600 members of militant groups
and journalists have been killed since 2001 when President Arroyo assumed
power. The latest victims were a couple working as radio commentators. George
and Mazel Vigo were gunned down Monday in North Cotabato
by two motorcycle-riding men. The Vigos were the 43rd and the 44th journalists
murdered under the Arroyo administration, according to the National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines.
The Philippines has been described by
the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists as the most dangerous
country in the world for journalists because of the number of killings.
Kenney thanked the PNP for keeping US
citizens safe amid threats of terrorism and human and drug trafficking. She
said the US
is willing to share with Philippine officials expertise in combating terrorism.
Kenney also requested the PNP to keep a tight watch on the US Embassy on Roxas
boulevard, a natural target of terrorism.
“I also have to say one of the most
important things, from my perspective, is the safety of my embassy and the
police has done a wonderful job of keeping our embassy safe,” Kenney said.
“The Philippines is a beautiful country,
we have a lot of friends but there are always a lot of bad people but the
police are doing a great thing. So I came out to pay my respect to General
Lomibao and his team and I’m happy to be here,” she added.
