Those watching the show live on Facebook watched the heinous crime on Sunday that resulted in the death of a radio anchor, who was shot by a man inside his station in the southern Philippines.
Pretending to be a listener, the gunman entered the home radio station of regional newscaster Juan Jumalon. Then, according to authorities, he shot him twice during a live morning broadcast in Calamba, Misamis Occidental province.
Before escaping on a motorcycle with a partner who had been waiting outside Jumalon’s house, the attacker stole the victim’s gold jewelry, according to the police. To identify the gunman and determine whether the attack was connected to the victim’s job, an investigation was under way.
For a very long time, the Philippines has been considered one of the world’s most hazardous locations for journalists.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued an official statement denouncing the shooting and directing the national police to find, apprehend, and bring charges against the assassins.
“Attacks on journalists will not be tolerated in our democracy and those who threaten the freedom of the press will face the full consequences of their actions,” Marcos said in a statement.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, a press freedom watchdog, said Jumalon was the 199th journalist to be killed in the country since 1986, when democracy returned after a “People Power” uprising toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the father of the current president, and forced him and his family into U.S. exile.
“The attack is even more condemnable since it happened at Jumalon’s own home, which also served as the radio station,” the watchdog said.
The incident was captured on tape, and the bespectacled 57-year-old Jumalon paused and looked skyward at something away from the camera before two shots were fired.
A background track continued to play as he fell back in his chair, bleeding.
While en route to a hospital, he was declared deceased.
Although the attacker was not seen on the Facebook video, authorities stated they were investigating whether the security cameras at his neighbors’ house and in his own home had captured anything.
In 2009, 58 individuals, including 32 media professionals, were shot and killed in a blatant execution-style attack in the southern province of Maguindanao by members of a strong political clan and its allies.
In recent memory, it was the bloodiest attack on journalists in one single instance.
Although the mass murder was eventually connected to a bloody political struggle typical in many rural communities, it also demonstrated the dangers that Filipino journalists faced.
In the impoverished Southeast, journalists encounter a number of security risks, including an abundance of illegal firearms, private armies under the influence of strong clans, and lax law enforcement in remote areas
