On July 2 at 2 AM eight men wearing ski-masks and armed burnt down Radyo Cagayano, a community radio station in the Cagayan province of the Philippines. They used gasoline in big bottled water containers which they poured over the equipment and the structure before setting it afire. The arsonists, some of them wearing combat boots, military type fatigues and divers’ watch often used by the Philippine military were also armed with M-16 assault rifles and 45 caliber handguns. They used ropes to hogtie the victims and articles of clothing to gag them.

The station, which broadcast from the mountainous town of Baggao some 500 kilometers north of Manilla, was put up through the joint efforts of the town mayor and a group of local farmers. It had also received state help through the congressional representatives of the Left-wing Bayan Muna party.

The radio station employees suspect the perpetrators to be members of the 17th Infantry Battalion of the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.

The building was totally razed to the ground, including all the pieces of equipment therein. The black draft created by the flames also severely injured Joy Marcos, a staff of the station, on his face, and Arlyn Arella and Armalyn Baddua, also staffs of the station, on their feet and legs. Another staff Richard Ayudad was bruised on his neck where the perpetrators poked it with a handgun. The arsonists also took all of their mobile phone units.

The incidents of attack over free media in the Philippines have grown dramatically over the past few years, especially since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became President in February 2001. Since then 42 journalists have been murdered, which amounts to 80 the number of journalists killed after the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos (1986).

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