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Gunman kills broadcaster in central Philippines

Murder comes a day after govt vows to pursue killers of journalists
Gunman kills broadcaster in central Philippines
Published: February 16, 2015 08:53 AM GMT
Updated: April 24, 2015 02:01 PM GMT

A radio journalist in the central Philippine province of Bohol was shot dead on Saturday, a day after the government vowed to pursue the perpetrators of media killings.

Maurito Lim, 71, died after being shot in the head in Tagbilaran City. 

Lim had just arrived at Radyo Asenso, where he hosted a noontime radio program, when a gunman stepped up and shot him. 

Witnesses said the gunman fled on a motorcycle following the shooting.

Lim was known in the community for being a staunch critic of local government officials.

"[Lim's] killing was an affront to press freedom. He was clearly silenced," said Joel Egco, president of the National Press Club (NPC).

Lim’s murder brought to 173 the number of journalists slain in the country since 1986 and the 34th since 2010 when President Benigno Aquino came to power.

His death comes a month after gunmen shot and killed newspaper reporter Nerlita Ledesma in Bataan province. Ledesma was the first journalist to be killed in the Philippines this year.

The government has been criticized by many rights and media groups, including Reporters Without Borders, for failing to bring to justice those behind the killings of members of the media.

In a meeting with media representatives on Friday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the government is actively pursuing cases against the killers of journalists.

NPC chief Egco, meanwhile, called for a united front from all media groups in the Philippines in helping tackle the threats posed to media personnel.

"We are calling on other press groups in the country to assist the NPC in any way they can so that swift and effective justice can be given to our harassed and murdered colleagues," Egco said.

The task of addressing media killing “can be more effective if all press groups in the country are cooperating with each other."

Responding to Lim’s killing, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Sunday said it has "run out of words of condemnation in the face of the murder of yet another colleague".

"While we seriously doubt demanding justice will get us, or Maurito Lim's family and colleagues, anywhere, we challenge the government to prove us wrong by acting swiftly to solve the case, arrest the killers and, most important, the mastermind who ordered his death," the group said.

Last week, Human Rights Watch noted that freedom advocates in the country scored a "rare victory" when a court convicted a man of shooting dead another broadcaster, Miguel Belen, in 2010.

Data from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, however, shows that only 14 of 172 such media killing cases filed in court since 1986 have ended in a conviction. 

 

 

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