WHAT WENT BEFORE

Fifteen media workers have been killed in work-related attacks since President Duterte took office in 2016.

The latest victim, radio broadcaster Dindo Generoso of Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental province, was gunned down on Thursday, the third killed in the province during this period.

On Dec. 28, 2018, Gabby Alboro, a radio blocktimer like Generoso, was on his way home when he was shot and killed in La Libertad town, Negros Oriental.

Edmund Sestoso, who hosted a popular morning show at dyGB-FM in Dumaguete, died in a hospital a day after he was shot several times on April 30, 2018, while paying his tricycle fare.

All three victims were killed by unknown assailants riding on motorcycles.

Twelve other media workers have been killed since mid-2016 based on reports from the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Philippine Press Institute, MindaNews, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and news accounts.

In its October 2019 report, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked the Philippines as the fifth deadliest country for journalists among 13 countries it had cited for “impunity” for leaving more than 200 journalist killings unsolved.

It also said the Philippines had the most number of unsolved murders of journalists from 2017 to 2019. The country had 42 unsolved murders in 2017, 40 in 2018, and 41 as of October this year, the CPJ reported.

The NUJP said 186 journalists have been killed since 1986.

—INQUIRER RESEARCH

Sources: Inquirer Archives, pcij.org, cpj.org NUJP Twitter page