Manila: A radio commentator was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen late on Thursday evening in southern Iligan City, according to reports on Wednesday.
Fernando “Nanding” Solijon , 48, was shot at close range by two gunmen in the village of Buru-un as he was about to board his car after having a few drinks with friends around 10:30 pm, the reports said.
Police said the victim sustained 13 gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
Local and national mass media organisations condemned the killing, the seventh involving a member of the fourth estate since January.
Iligan Tri-media Association president Philip Jaudian was quoted by the Bombo Radyo-Cagayan de Oro as saying that Solijon, who hosts a public affairs programme “Sandiganan” on Love Radio 107.1 FM, had been receiving death threats during the election campaign period.
Jaudian said they received information that police has formed a task force to conduct a probe into the killing of Solijon.
Local politicians have figured strongly in past cases of killings involving members of the media.
Earlier, International Federation of Journalists Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said expressed concern over the worsening state of media freedom in the Philippines.
“Journalists in the Philippines must be able to exercise their duties free from reprisals and intimidation. Freedom of the press is an essential pillar of democracy. We demand that the government of the Philippines investigate this attack and bring the perpetrators to justice, demonstrating a commitment to their national and international legal obligations which guarantee Filipino citizens freedom of expression and an independent media,” she said.
The IFJ also condemned raid conducted by police on a radio station in Central Philippines’ Iloilo City last Sunday.
The raid of radio station DyOK Aksyon Radyo in the central provincial capital of Iloilo City by the local police force’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squad was captured on CCTV.
In the CCTV footage, the police were seen manhandling several employees and private guards as they searched for seven youth suspects who were hiding in the same building as the radio station.
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said the force used in the raid by the SWAT last Sunday was “excessive” and that the incident depicts the great threat faced by the working media.
