I strongly condemn the murder of Mei Magsino who gave Batangueños an image of what a crusading and courageous journalist should be.

As a member of the press, Mei practiced her craft with guts and grit, her prose and insight as sharp as balisong, which she used to peel the falsehoods which hid the truth, and prick the conscience of the people and the ego of the powerful.

Though at the time of her death she was not affiliated with a media organization, this did not prevent her from making social commentaries, and her words sparked the changes she wanted to see in the province she truly loved.

She died with her boots on, “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable” to the end, and it was her desire to search for and speak out the truth which led her enemies to cowardly censor her forever.

I urge our law enforcement authorities to bring her killers to justice immediately, as I call upon the government to end the impunity by which journalists are killed, because another unsolved murder emboldens the killing of more.

I am donating P100,000 to a reward pool, which I urge the government to create, for any information that will lead to the apprehension of Mei’s murderers.

Dapat managot at maparusahan ang sinumang nasa likod ng krimeng ito. Hindi na ito dapat mapabilang sa mga kaso ng mamamahayag na namatay sa ngalan ng katotohanan at hindi nabigyan ng katarungan.