Juan Jumalon, a radio broadcaster in Mindanao, southern Philippines was shot dead in his studio while he was on air.
Jumalon, 57, also known as DJ Johnny Walker was in his home-based 94.7 Gold FM Calamba studio, when a gunman entered the studio pretending to be a listener and shot him twice in the head.
A video of the attack on the station’s Facebook page, where the broadcasts are also aired, shows Jumalon pausing and looking upward at something away from the camera before two shots ring out. He slumps back in his chair as background music plays on.
The attacker snatched his gold necklace before fleeing. Jumalon was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The police said they were investigating a motive for the killing and were not aware of any previous threats against Jumalon’s life.
Jumalon is the fourth journalist to be slain since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in June 2022, and the 199th journalist to be killed in the country since 1986, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said, condemning “the brazen killing”.
President Marcos Jr strongly condemned the shooting and said he had ordered the national police to track down, arrest and prosecute the killers.
“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 said in a statement.
With an average of three or four journalists murdered every year, the Philippines is ranked 147th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index.
It is ranked seventh on CPJ’s most recent Impunity Index, which spotlights countries worldwide where journalists are slain and the killers go free.
Photo: Facebook