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Sixth journalist murdered in the Philippines this year


Cotabato, Phillipines / AFP
07/08/2005

 A radio broadcaster who accused officials of being close to drug dealers has been shot dead, becoming the sixth journalist to be murdered in the Philippines this year, police said Monday.

Rolando Morales of DXMD station was ambushed late Sunday while riding his motorbike with a companion near Polomolok town in southern Mindanao, Chief Superintendent Danilo Mangila said.

The journalist was pronounced dead in hospital and the unidentified woman was wounded, the regional police commander told reporters.

There had been no arrests and the motive of the attack was not unknown.
The journalist was a vocal critic of illegal drug dealers in the area, Mangila said. He had often accused local government officials of either protecting drug dealers or being involved in the trade themselves, he said.

Morales was on his way home to Polomolok after his Sunday night news commentary program at the radio station based in nearby General Santos city, police said.

Five other journalists have been assassinated in separate attacks this year. In May a parcel bomb mailed to a journalist killed a 15 year-old boy in Mindanao.
The Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders has described the Philippines as one of the world's most hazardous places for journalists. Thirteen journalists were killed in the country last year.