A radio broadcaster was killed outside his home in Calapan City in the central Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro on May 31, the latest in a long list of journalists killed in the Philippines.
Cresenciano ‘Cris’ Aldovino Bunduquin, 50, who is the third journalist to be killed since President Ferdinand Marcos took office last year, was gunned down by motorcycle-riding assailants.
One of the assailants died after Bunduquin’s son hit the gunmen with his vehicle as they fled the scene.
“The remaining suspect was able to run off. Hot pursuit operation is still ongoing,” said Police Colonel Samuel Delorino in an AFP report.
The latest killing comes less than a year after radio personality Percival Mabasa was shot dead in Manila as he drove to his studio.
According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Bunduquin hosts the ‘Ayos Mandin’ show on DWXR 101.7Kalahi FM.
The group condemned the killing of the radio broadcaster and urged the Philippine government to bolster its efforts to solve crimes against journalists.
In the 2022 annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Philippines ranked as the seventh worst country in prosecuting journalists’ murderers, with 14 unsolved killings from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security is offering a reward of P50,000.00 or some US$1,000.00 “for any information leading to the suspect’s immediate arrest.”
“While the driver of the motorcycle had already been neutralized, the actual gunman remains at large and is now the subject of a police manhunt,” said Usec. Paul Gutierrez, head of the task force.
While authorities investigate the killing of Bunduquin, Gutierrez appealed to media workers and organizations “not to engage in any speculation but to instead contribute to its immediate resolution by providing us with positive and verifiable information.”
“We are also reaching out to the family of Bunduquin so that other government assistance can be provided to them to help alleviate their suffering during this period,” he said.
