Bangkok, April 4, 2025—Philippine prosecutors must redouble their efforts to locate, arrest, and convict those responsible for the fatal shooting of journalist Juan Jumalon while live broadcasting from his home-based radio station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
In a 33-page ruling dated March 18, Regional Trial Court Judge Michael Ajoc acquitted three suspects — Jolito Mangompit, Reynante Saja Bongcawel, and Boboy Sagaray Bongcawel — due to lack of evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, according to multiple news reports.
“When the legal process fails to convict those responsible for the killing of journalists, impunity becomes more deeply entrenched,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Philippine prosecutors must leave no stone unturned in identifying and prosecuting the real killers of journalist Juan Jumalon.”
Jumalon was killed by an unknown assailant on November 5, 2023, in the city of Calamba, on the southern island of Mindanao. The attacker stole Jumalon’s gold necklace before escaping on a motorcycle driven by a waiting accomplice.
The court said none of the accused’s fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene and prosecutors failed to link Mangompit to the shooting directly.
The ruling ordered the release of the Bongcawels and called on authorities to find the “real killers and mastermind” to give Jumalon’s family “the justice they deserve.” Mangompit remained in detention in relation to a separate case.
The Philippines ranked ninth on CPJ’s 2024 Impunity Index, a per capita ranking of countries where journalists are murdered and the killers habitually go free. The Philippines has featured on the index for 17 consecutive years.
The Department of Justice’s Prosecution Office did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.
CPJ Staff | Radio Free (2025-04-04T11:26:35+00:00) No justice for slain Philippine journalist Juan Jumalon as suspects acquitted. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/04/04/no-justice-for-slain-philippine-journalist-juan-jumalon-as-suspects-acquitted/
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