Marlene Garcia Esperat, 45, made exposing corruption in the local government and the department of agriculture her job. She talked about it fiercely in her radio program and her column in the Midland Review. But her firebrand journalism came to an end on March 24, 2005, when gunmen went to her house in Mindanao, Philippines, and shot her to death in front of her children.

Esperat's case illustrates the state of impunity in the country and four years on, the trend of killings and violence against journalists continues unabated, and with corresponding patterns in the region.

Concerned with the growing danger to journalists in the region and in commemorating Marlene Esperat, a Southeast Asian press freedom mission has called on the Philippines government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to intensify efforts to prosecute the murderers and to arrest the suspected masterminds behind Esperat's killing, who are still at large.

Participants in the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) mission included its campaigns and advocacy officer Kulachada Chaipipat, Thai Journalists Association (TJA) secretary general Pradit Ruangdit, Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) Indonesia secretary-general Jajang Jalamudin, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran and Cambodian Association for Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) vice president Duong Hak Samrithy.

The team members expressed fear that the killing and harassment of journalists in the Philippines could spread to other countries unless stopped.

“One of the reasons we came to the Philippines on the eve of the 4th death anniversary of Marlene Esperat was because we believe that the culture of impunity that is deeply-rooted in the Philippines could be replicated in other countries in the region unless there is a common effort to dismantle it in the Philippines.

"We note an increase in the violence against journalists and media workers in Malaysia and Thailand including browbeating, harassment and mob attacks on individual journalists; surrounding media premises; and the killing of journalists in addition to the use of legal sanctions to silence the media and suppress on-line free expression in 2008,” the team said in a statement issued at the end of the three-day mission on 24 March 2009.

With 78 journalists killed since 1986, Philippines is among the countries with the highest number of journalists killings in the world and certainly top in the region. This makes it an average of five journalists each year, with half of the killings occurring under the rule of President Arroyo, according to data compiled by the Philippine-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

In Indonesia, AJI recorded 50 cases of violence in 2008. Cambodian journalist Khuon Phlaivy survived an attempt on his life, but unfortunately for Khim Sambo, he was gunned down by unknown men along with his son in July last year. The political crisis in Thailand saw journalists being physically harassed as part of the pressure from both sides of the divides to give favorable coverage. In November 2008, unidentified men fired grenades and assault rifles to a satellite television station owned by one of the rivaling political party, PAD. An announcer, Natthawut Mitmark suffered injury from the attack. While in Malaysia, the government claimed six cases of assault against photographers and journalists in 2008, but according to the monitoring by the Centre for Independent Journalism, many assault cases went unreported because of employers' pressure.

The culture of impunity refers to the seeming immunity from prosecution and punishment of most of the killers and suspects in the killing of journalists. Again, the most glaring instance is in the Philippines, where only two out of the 78 cases of journalists killed have been partly resolved in that the killers have been tried and convicted. No mastermind, however, has been prosecuted.

The SEAPA mission met with the state prosecutor handling the Esperat case; the secretariat of the Philippine National Police’s Task Force Usig (Prosecute); lawyer Nena Santos, private counsel of the Esperat family; some Filipino legislators; and the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists.

The group called on media practitioners to adhere to their ethical and professional standards so as to eliminate one excuse for the killings. It also called on Filipinos to be involved in the public campaign against impunity because every journalist killed deprives citizens of their right to information.

"The Arroyo administration could still do much more by tracking down the killers of journalists and arresting suspected masterminds," said the group.

More about Marlene Esperat at www.cijmalaysia.org/content/view/65/25/ and www.cijmalaysia.org/content/view/63/25/

For the state of protection of journalists in Malaysia go to www.cijmalaysia.org/content/view/358/43/