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Radio Journalist Juan Jumalon, known as DJ Johnny Walker, was shot dead on air during a broadcast in the Philippines, highlighting the perilous environment for journalists.
Facebook / Misamis Occidental Police
- Radio journalist, Juan Jumalon, was shot dead during a
broadcast from his home in the Philippines. - Jumalon, known as DJ Johnny Walker, is the fourth journalist
killed since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022. - The attacker gained access to the studio by pretending to be
a listener.
Philippine
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered the police to conduct a thorough
investigation after a radio broadcaster was shot dead on air, the fourth
journalist to be killed since the president took office in June last year.
Juan
Jumalon, also known as DJ Johnny Walker, was shot by an unidentified assailant
while broadcasting from his home in the southern town of Calamba on Sunday
morning, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a
statement.
It said the
“brazen killing” was captured on the Facebook livestream of his show.
“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,”
Marcos Jr said in a statement.
Police said
the killer got access to the studio by pretending to be a listener, shot
Jumalon twice, snatched his gold necklace and escaped with an accomplice who
was waiting outside on a motorbike.
The
Philippines has a vibrant media industry but is also one of the most dangerous
places to be a journalist in the world.
In its
statement, the NUJP said Jumalon was the 199th journalist to be killed since
the restoration of democracy in 1986.
The
livestream, available to some 2 400 followers, showed the 57-year-old pausing
and looking upwards at something off-camera before two shots were fired. The
journalist then slumped back into his chair as background music played on. He
was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.
The
attacker was not seen on the clip, but police said they were checking whether
security cameras installed in the house and at his neighbours had recorded
anything.
“While
the motive is yet to be determined, we consider this incident as ‘work-related’
for the moment,” Paul Gutierrez, the head of the Presidential Task Force
on Media Security, said in a statement.
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Police said
they were investigating a motive for the killing and 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,” Calama police chief Captain Deore Ragonio told the AFP news
agency.
The
Philippines ranked as the eighth worst country when it comes to prosecuting
killers of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists 2023
Global Impunity Index.
In one of
the worst-ever incidents, some 32 media workers were among 58 people killed by
members of a powerful political clan and their associates in southern
Maguindanao province in 2009.
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