Filipino journalist Percival Mabasa shot dead in ‘brazen’ attack - Journalists needs to be protected
Hello InformationWar platform! It's good to be here again to share news across the world and this time we're going to the Philippines as we report incidents concerning the death of a journalist in this October.
Just few weeks after a journalist was attacked, stabbed and killed, another one has taken place in the Philippines. A renowned radio reporter known as Percival Mabasa was shot close to the gate of his residential building by two men on a motorcycle on Monday night.
In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said Mabasa’s killing showed that “journalism remains a dangerous profession” in the country.
“That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” it added.Source
According to the National Union of Journalists, the killing of Percy is an indication that the Journalism profession is a very risky one that needs government to secure members all the time. This killing is addition to the multitudes of journalists that are being killed yearly and for the past 35 years, journalists that have been killed in the Philippines are up to 187 and the worst being in 2009 when a total number of 32 journalists were killed in an incident.
In a tweet by the National Union of Journalists in Philippines have called on the government to do proper investigation to bring the perpetrators to book as soon as possible. The tweet is seen below:
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) retweeted the Philippines NUJ's tweet as a sign of support for the Filipino Journalist who was killed yesterday. The IFJ called on the Filipino government to investigate the case in order to give justice to the deceased Journalist. The IFJ condemned and seek justice for Percy.
The family of the deceased Journalist have called on the Police to facilitate the investigation to bring the cowardly assailants to book.
The Police further said that the death of Percy could be as a result of his job as a radio broadcaster, but they'll do everything possible to bring the culprits to stand for trials as well as provide justice for the late Percy.
Mabasa’s killing followed the fatal stabbing last month of radio journalist Rey Blanco in the central Philippines.
The Philippines has one of Asia’s most liberal media environments, but it remains of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, particularly in its provinces.Source
If this is the case, then the government needs to give adequate attention to the security of Journalists across the Philippines most especially the Metro Manila area.