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In Memoriam:

Robert Ramos, Journalist, Katapat newspaper, Laguna, Philippines.

Born:        November 24, 1965
Died:        November 20, 2005,  at the public market at Cabuyao, Laguna.

Murdered for his work? The investigation continues...

And now...
His biography, from an American who knew him as his...brother in law.

Robert "Robby" Ramos was more than just a reporter for a small tabloid newspaper located in Laguna. He was also my brother in law, and a truly beloved part of my family. This past Sunday, he was assassinated at the public market at Cabuyao, Laguna, located about 30 miles south of Manila. According to news reports, he was shot twice in the face at close range with a .38 caliber gun while waiting for a ride to his home nearby. He had been involved in a heated argument with some shopowners in the market in Cabuyao several days earlier, over priated DVDs and CDs before he was killed. He didn't stand a chance; he died on the spot. He was 39 years old; just shy of his 40th birthday...

His death has been covered from the Philippines, to Australia and throughout Southeast Asia...to MSNBC. It has been a big deal. A lot of people turned out for his funeral. Journalists, government officials, and others who knew him when the family lived in Pandacan. His death hurt a lot of people, especially those who have had initimate knowledge of the Ramos family, and my father in law (coming at a later time, a biography on the life of Robert Ramos.).

It was about a year and a half ago he turned to journalism. We're not sure exactly when. He did so in secret, without telling anyone what he was doing until very recently, about 6 months before his death. He had found his following. An engineer by training, he worked at Sharp Philippines, in their quality control section. After fire destroyed his workplace, he wandered, at a loose end, until hooking up with one of the biggest journalist in the Philippines, Jonas Señel, a longtime friend and godfather to his children.

He got a job at Katapat, a tabloid newspaper situated in Laguna. He began writing articles...the half of which I have yet to see, and won't for some time. He latched onto illegal CDs and DVDs being sold a the public market in Laguna With police in tow, they confiscated 250 CDs from one of the vendors in the market, but not without a near fistfight, even with police presence.

He had been receiving death threats before his assassination. Still, he went to Laguna, and back to the market where he had had trouble.

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The plight of reporters in the Philippines is particularly acute. Lately, radio personalities critical of the Arroyo government have been assassinated in large numbers. As of today, 10 journalists have been murdered (1 since my brother in law's assassination.). There is no real government protection for reporters, and with a government that is openly critical of the press, it's a recipe for disaster for those reporters still working in the country.

Journalists in this country are fortunate to have the freedoms they have...even though they have been carefully controlled in their access to the White House. As citizens, it is up to us to make sure our press operates unfettered, with full access to public officials. There will always be some topics that the press won't be able to gain access to, because of national security concerns, but those should be held to the bare minimum needed for national security.

New England Press calls for President Arroyo to commit herself and her government officials to protecting journalists against random attacks by insurgents and other lawless types; to pledge transparency in government, and to allow the press as much access as practical to cover affairs in national and provincial government. We also call for President Arroyo to weed out corruption at all levels of government...things that can happen with a free and open press; one that is protected against random acts of violence and murder. Scandal lives in the shadow of secrecy...that must not be allowed to happen anywhere, including the U.S. Finally...as a relative of Robert Ramos, we call for the capture of the culprit responsible for his murder.

(for the record...according to Bignewsnetwork.com, 2 brothers were arrested in connection with Robert Ramo's death, for allegedly being his killers.) While several court sessions have come and gone...there has been no trace of the killers.

Moreover, promises of aid for the family, a future job for the widow, and college scholarships for the children have vanished. This is more than an outrage. This is a particularly sore point for the owner of the New England Press. As a member of the publishing community, we pride ourselves for being an advocate to the plight of writers and journalists who are threatened by the pursuit of their craft.  The withdrawal of aid for the Ramos family is a very serious matter; one that blackens the eye of the journalism coummunity in the Philippines. I beg you to reconsider your actions, as the Ramos family struggles to recompose itself in the face of the untimely death of Robert "Robby" Ramos, even at this late date. The New England Press operates from the most expensive urban region in the U.S.; it operates at a loss every day it is open. We deal in a highly experimental realm, the e-book; a book format that still has yet to catch on. Only through the sheer will of its owner, Mark Murphy, does New England Press continue to operate and produce commentary and other non-fiction books, when it is able to. So anemic is the return on investment that its owner works another job to make ends meet. We do this business for the pleasure of writing and the written word, but one day, we will be forced to turn a profit in order to continue operations. This renegging is a serious black eye for the Filipino press and the owners of the media conglomerates in the Philippines. You have given your word; as the owner of Katapat, we challenge you to make good on your promises of aid for the Ramos family, unless you have a very good reason for going back on your word. That goes for the others who have pledged their support for the Ramos family in this time of need.
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<>Contributions to this website will be used, in part, to support the families of Filipino journalists who have been killed in the performance of their duties, reporting on controversial topics and uncovering corruption and graft in all its forms. We respectfully solicit contributions to New England Press, at the address above. We also solicit inquires at +1 (857) 383-0056, and will return your call, should you catch us doing other business.

We stand behind journalists and writers everywhere, especially the ones who dare to write on those topics that threaten their lives. We stand for the principle of a free and open press, and the Internet as a free and open forum for expressing ideas, in whatever form they take, no matter how controversial the subject is. We oppose pricing that would force small presses like us of the Internet, by making the cost of business prohibitively expensive. We do not condone intolerance or advocate for a reduction of freedom for people everywhere in the world.

Respectfully:
Mark Murphy
New England Press.

Links to Robert Ramos' murder:

Stories:

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=20680&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
http://www.nujp.org/
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0511/S00407.htm
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?index=3551&Language=EN
http://www.ifex.org/fr/content/view/full/70590/
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=57470
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/051121/1/3woml.html
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1514221.htm
http://www.ifj-asia.org/page/philippines051121.html
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2005/11/22/news/oro.media.issues.call.to.arms.anew.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10137478/from/RL.2/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=22617
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15675
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories_to/1514221.htm
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/murderous_05/murderous_05.html
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/phil_05/Phil_radio_05.pdf
http://peacejournalism.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=6967
http://www.southeastasiantimes.com/
http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=5132&z=148
http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20051122.nat09.html
http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=57329

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