“These attacks not only jeopardize their personal safety but also undermine the vital role of a free press in fostering transparency, accountability, democracy and legitimacy of media as the 4th estate.”
Human rights group Karapatan said that Dex and Bazoo are the seventh and eighth persons involuntarily disappeared under Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.
“Notably, none of the elements of the alleged importation of drugs into Indonesia took place in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippines as the sending country is where Veloso was illegally recruited in order to be trafficked or exploited in two other receiving states. Veloso is, thus, a victim, not a criminal who must be punished.”