29 May 2007
JOURNALIST KILLED, OTHERS THREATENED FOLLOWING ELECTIONS
In the wake of Philippine local and legislative elections, a photojournalist was killed in an ambush on his way home from work, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and local press reports.
Dodie Nuñez, a photojournalist who primarily freelanced for the news tabloid "Katapat" in Cavite province, was riding a jeepney bus on 21 May when it was ambushed by three men on a motorbike, reports CPJ. According to RSF, Nuñez was shot dead and another passenger was wounded.
"Katapat" is owned by Archie Gadang, who stood for provincial governor earlier this month and lost. The newly-elected governor, Ireneo Maliksi, had filed a libel suit against Gadang for publishing corruption accusations.
Elsewhere in the country, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) reports that Ricky Carandang and Noel Alamar, reporters for the ABS-CBN network, received death threats in Lanao del Norte, a province located in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, after they reported on election anomalies.
CMFR also reports in its election coverage that the Philippine electoral commission ordered a stop on 16 May to the "media counts" being conducted by ABS-CBN and another TV network, GMA-7, on the grounds that they were "unauthorised" and "confused" the people.
Visit these links:
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/asia/phil22may07na.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=22310
- National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP): http://www.nujp.org
- CMFR: http://www.cmfr.com.ph/
(29 May 2007)
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