Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday urged President Benigno Aquino III to order an investigation into the number of environmentalists and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) employees who have been killed during his term.

In a statement released Tuesday, Cayetano said 14 environmentalists and DENR employees have been killed under the Aquino administration, the latest of which is Ricardo Magallanes, a DENR employee who was shot dead in Surigao del Sur.

However, Cayetano said the fact that the killings are not "sensational media items" should not be a reason for the national government to take the deaths lightly.

“This series of events has a chilling effect on various environmental groups. Instead of speaking out against illegal loggers and other violators of the country’s environmental laws, they will cease to do so for fear of their lives,” he said.

The senator said the DENR and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should create a joint task force to investigate the deaths and recommend measures to counter the "deadly tactics" of syndicates and unscrupulous businessmen.

“It is disappointing to note that nothing has been heard of results of investigations on the deaths. Are these deaths all in vain?” he said.

“Violators have no qualms resorting to violence to keep their operations profitable. [So] government must send a strong message to those who intimidate and silence environmentalists with impunity that these acts will not go unpunished,” he added. - VVP, GMA News