Gunman kills Remate columnist, companion in Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — A man shot dead a columnist of the tabloid Remate and his companion in Arayat town, Pampanga province, on Sunday night, police said on Monday.

Jupiter Gonzales, 52, was driving his Nissan Almera with Christopher Tiongson when they were attacked in Barangay Cacutud at 10:30 p.m., reports said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said a closed-circuit television camera captured how the gunman shot Gonzales and Tiongson after what appeared to be a heated altercation.

Police said the car slammed into a plant box by the roadside after the attack. Tiongson died instantly while Gonzales died before reaching the hospital.

Police have yet to determine the motive behind the attack.

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) condemned the murder. Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, PTFoMS executive director, said he immediately coordinated with the Arayat police to speed up the investigation.

Egco, also a Remate columnist, said Gonzales was known for being a staunch critic of illegal gambling in local carnivals, or “peryahan.”

The NUJP said if the attack on Gonzales turned out be work-related, he would be the 14th journalist slain under the Duterte administration and the 187th since 1986. /je /pdi