Ronnie Perante

Ronnie Perante worked as a journalist for the publication News Focus. He was part of a media group traveling in Maguindanao province on the southern island of Mindanao.

On the morning of November 23, 2009, Perante was among a convoy of vehicles accompanying family members and supporters of a local politician filing a certificate of candidacy. In the town of Ampatuan, the convoy was stopped and then attacked by a large, armed group. Perante and the others were forcibly taken to a nearby hilltop, where they were shot and killed. His body was found in a mass grave.

The attack, known as the Maguindanao massacre, occurred against a backdrop of long-standing political rivalries and clan conflicts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The region was marked by private armies and a history of election-related violence.

The Committee to Protect Journalists verified Perante's death as work-related. The massacre prompted national and international condemnation, leading to the arrest and eventual conviction of members of the powerful Ampatuan political clan. The trial was one of the Philippines' most protracted and high-profile legal cases.

Perante is memorialized as one of 32 journalists killed in the single deadliest event for media workers globally. His death underscored the extreme dangers faced by local journalists covering politics in the Philippines.

Ronnie Perante was killed during the Maguindanao massacre, a violent episode in a long-running conflict over political power and clan dominance in the southern Philippines. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.

Among those documented in the same conflict: Gina dela Cruz, Henry Araneta, Santos Sopelario, Bienvenido Legarte Jr..

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