A radio presenter was fatally shot by a man inside a southern Philippine station on Sunday in a brazen attack witnessed by people watching the program live on Facebook.
The gunman entered the local radio station of regional news broadcaster Juan Jumalon pretending to be a listener. He then shot her twice during a morning live broadcast in the city of Calamba in Misamis Occidental province, police said.
The attackers grabbed the victim’s gold chain before fleeing with a friend, who was waiting outside Jumalon’s house, on a motorcycle, police said. An investigation is underway to identify the gunman and determine whether the attack was work-related.
The Philippines has long been considered one of the most dangerous places for journalists in the world.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. strongly condemned the shooting and said he ordered the national police to track down, arrest and prosecute the killers.
A gunman shot Juan Jumalon, a radio host, while broadcasting live from his home in Calamba City in Laguna province, Philippines on November 5, 2023. Newsflash
“Attacks on journalists will not be tolerated in our democracy and those who threaten the freedom of the press will face the full consequences of their actions,” Marcos said in a statement.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, a press freedom watchdog, said Jumalon was the 199th journalist killed in the country since 1986, when democracy returned after a “People Power” uprising ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, father of the current president, and forced him and his family to in US exile.
“The attack was more condemned since it happened in Jumalon’s own house, which also serves as a radio station,” said the observer.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. strongly condemned the shooting and said he ordered the national police to trace, arrest and prosecute the killer.Newsflash
Video of the attack shows Jumalon, 57, who wears glasses, pause and look up at something off camera before two shots ring out.
He slumped bloodied back in his chair as background music played.
He was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital.
Video of the attack shows Juan Jumalon pause and look up at something before two shots rang out. News flash
The attacker was not seen in the Facebook live broadcast but police said they were checking whether security cameras installed at the home and at the neighbor’s recorded anything.
In 2009, members of the ruling political faction and their allies shot dead 58 people, including 32 media workers, in an execution-style attack in the southern province of Maguindanao.
It was the deadliest single attack on a journalist in recent history.
Although the massacre was later linked to the violent electoral competition common in many rural areas, it also showcased the threat journalists faced in the Philippines.
Unlicensed weapons and private armies controlled by powerful clans and weak law enforcement in rural areas are among the security concerns facing journalists in the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
