A radio commentator was shot dead after leaving a radio station in the city of Cebu in the central Philippines on Thursday, July 22.
Renante Cortes, anchorperson of the commentary program “Engkwentro,” was shot and killed in front of radio station DyRB about nine o’clock in the morning.
The still-unidentified gunman fled on a motorcycle, said witnesses.
Police investigators are looking into the commentator’s background for possible motives for the killing.
In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in Cebu expressed alarm over attacks against journalists and media workers that it said “continue to rise and are being normalized.”
“We further condemn the culture of impunity that emboldens these perpetrators to commit these crimes,” the group said.
The union noted that there have been 223 incidents of attacks and threats against members of the media since 2016. The group recorded 19 killings, eight assassination attempts and 52 incidents of intimidation.
The Philippines ranks 136th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index that indicates the “difficult situation” of press freedom in the country.
Source: Licas Philippines
0 Comments