Gina dela Cruz
Female
Verified Gina dela Cruz was a Filipino journalist, working as a reporter for UNTV and as a freelance correspondent. She was killed on November 23, 2009, in Maguindanao, Philippines.
Their Story
Gina dela Cruz was a reporter for the Philippine network UNTV and also worked as a freelance journalist. She was among a group of media workers traveling to cover the filing of a certificate of candidacy for a local politician in Maguindanao province on the southern island of Mindanao.
On the morning of November 23, 2009, the convoy she was in, which included the politician's family, lawyers, and at least 30 other journalists, was stopped and intercepted by a large armed group on a highway in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. According to official investigations and witness accounts, the group was forcibly taken to a nearby hill, where they were executed. Dela Cruz was among the 58 people killed that day, 32 of whom were journalists or media workers.
The killings, known as the Maguindanao massacre, were linked to a local political rivalry. The victims were associated with a political challenger to the long-dominant Ampatuan clan. The Committee to Protect Journalists verified that dela Cruz's death was directly connected to her work as a journalist covering the event.
The massacre prompted national and international condemnation. In the aftermath, dozens of suspects, including members of the Ampatuan family, were arrested and charged with murder. The trial became one of the most complex and protracted in Philippine legal history.
Gina dela Cruz is memorialized as one of the single deadliest event for journalists in history. Her death, and those of her colleagues, underscored the extreme dangers faced by local reporters covering politics and crime in the Philippines, a country consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous for journalists.
Explore Further
Gina dela Cruz was killed during a period of political violence and journalist killings in the Philippines. The specific Maguindanao massacre incident occurred in 2009. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.
Among those documented in the same conflict: Henry Araneta, Santos Sopelario, Ronnie Perante, Bienvenido Legarte Jr..
