Philippines
Philippine radio commentator shot deadPosted Sep 14 2011
One of the most dangerous countries for journalists has again witnessed a murder. Niel Jimena, a host of a political radio show, was killed on Aug. 22 after two men shot him five times, according to an article in The Manila Times.
Jimena, 42, was riding a motorcycle at night near his home in the Negros Island town of Enrique B. Magalona when he noticed that he was being followed by two men. When he tried to escape, the men continued to follow him until one of them opened fire, according to Leonardo Cobing, the local police chief.
The killing might be linked to Jimena’s biweekly show, “Judge,” where he regularly criticized the Iloilo City mayor and other local officials, Cobing said, but the police had not ruled out other motives yet, Cobing added.
The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) is investigating the killing to determine whether the incident was work-related.
“Police in Negros Occidental must launch a thorough investigation of Niel Jimena’s murder and determine whether it was in reprisal for his work,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney in a CPJ article.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is also checking to see if Jimena’s killing results from his work as a journalist, said Nestor Burgos, the head of this organization in the article in The Manila Times.
The Philippines was third worst on CPJ's 2011 Impunity Index, which calculates unsolved media killings as a percentage of the population.