Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Police on Tuesday reported that a radio commentator who survived a 2016 assassination attempt was shot dead in front of his house in the northern Philippines.
According to a police report, Virgilio Maganes, 62, was about to enter his house in the town of Villasis when two suspects shot him six times.
The police said he died on the spot, adding that no suspects or motive have been identified.
The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said Maganes was the 18th journalist to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.
The NUJP said he survived an assassination attempt in November 2016 “by playing dead’’ when gunmen riding a motorcycle shot him.
“A sign was left near the scene that said, ‘Drug pusher, don’t imitate,” in what was seen to be an attempt to divert attention from the real motive for the slay try,’’ it added.
The Philippines has been ranked as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists by press freedom groups, including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
In 2009, 32 media workers were among more than 50 people killed in a local politician’s convoy heading to a rally in the southern region of Mindanao.
Ten years after the killing, a Philippine court convicted members of an influential political clan and dozens of supporters of murder for the worst election-related killing in the country. (dpa/NAN)
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