Fernando Batul

Fernando "Dong" Ulson Batul (May 24, 1969 – May 22, 2006) was a Filipino journalist and politician.

Batul worked as a radio broadcaster He had many supporters, but he angered many with his commentaries.

Early and personal life Fernando "Dong" Batul was born on May 24, 1969, in (then-municipality) Puerto Princesa, Palawan; he was the youngest Batul remained a bachelor throughout his life.

Education Batul finished elementary at East Central School in 1982 and secondary at Palawan National School in 1986. In 1990, he finished Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in Palawan State College,

Batul, in his media career, exposed irregularities in various agencies. as well as the anomalous recruitment of them.

The two had their terms unfinished. On the other hand, Socrates lost to Hagedorn, who had been replaced yet unsuccessfully ran for governor of Palawan,

In another election in 2004, the Socrates–Batul tandem failed to regain the positions,

He alleged that those behind the incident were police As per news reports, Batul was shot either four

United States-based media watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists expressed dismay over Golifardo's acquittal as they noted that the verdict was reported only by a few media outlets. It said that the murder case remains open, and the impunity with killings of journalists in the country remains "a matter of national shame." By then, the Philippines ranks third on its impunity index.

Context Prior to Batul's death, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility counted 57 A total of 120 journalists have been killed in the Philippines in line of duty since 1986 and Batul was the 67th. That means 66 journalists had been murdered before Batul in the Philippines before him in just 20 years. The station where Batul worked, DYPR, once had to hire a security guard to keep angry listeners from attacking a different radio commentator. Batul's murder is still somewhat of a mystery as people are still questioning who really was behind the murder today. In 2013, Edward Hagedorn was still trying to convince people that he had no connection in the murders of Batul and Ortega. He compared his own situation as someone who has not gone into hiding with others who had fled, like the Reyes brothers who were still in hiding since evidence connected them to the murder of Ortega.

Reactions On May 29, 2006, Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, condemned the murder of Fernando "Dong" Batul. In his statement, Matsuura demanded authorities bring the culprits to justice. He said, "It is completely unacceptable that murder be used to silence opinions. Such violence targets not only its individual victims but society as a whole, because open debate and the basic human right of freedom of expression are indispensable fundamental components of democracy and rule of law." as said by Mr. Matsuura while giving his speech on the condemnation of Batul.

Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa dedicated World Communications Day, May 28, to Batul who was active in Church movements. Father Eugene Elivera, who was the director of the local Church's Social Action and Special Concerns office, said on May 26 that all masses that Sunday would be dedicated to the slain Batul.