A radio broadcaster, Juan Jumalon was on Sunday fatally shot inside his studio in the Philippines, police announced, the latest in plethora of attacks on journalists in the country.
Jumalon, 57, was in his home-based studio on the southern island of Mindanao when a lone gunman shot him in the head, Captain Deore Ragonio, police chief in Calamba municipality stated.
Denouncing the act as “the brazen killing”, the National Union of Journalists in the country said Jumalon is the fourth journalist to be slain since President Ferdinand Marcos took office June last year.
Killers of journalists in the archipelago nation always go unpunished, a country considered dangerous for journalists to work.
Radio broadcasters outside the capital are usually the target.
The journalists union condemned the “murder” of Jumalon and ordered the authorities to “swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice”.
“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,” the union said in a post on social media.
Police said the suspect gained entry to Jumalon’s studio by pretending to want to make an on-air announcement.
He escaped and Jumalon was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
The attack was recorded on video, said Paul Gutierrez, the head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.
It showed the suspect shooting the broadcaster twice and grabbing his gold necklace before leaving, Gutierrez said.
“While the motive is yet to be determined, we consider this incident as ‘work-related’ for the moment,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
Police chief Ragonio said they were investigating a motive for the killing. They were not aware of any previous threats against Jumalon’s life.
“He tackles mostly current events and is not known to have criticised anyone in his broadcasts,” Ragonio told AFP.
Jumalon used the name “DJ Johnny Walker” in his Cebuano-language show at the 94.7 Gold FM Calamba station.
His broadcasts were also aired on the station’s Facebook page, which has 2,400 followers.
