Broadcaster shot dead in southern Philippines
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A radio broadcaster was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen last 22 August 2011 in Enrique B. Magalona town, Negros Occidental. Negros Occidental is approximately 467 kilometers south of Manila.
Niel “Lito” Jimena died at the Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City from five gunshot wounds. The killers were on a motorcycle.
Senior Police Office 4 Leonardo Cobing, a member of the investigating team, told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that two men on a motorcycle chased after Jimena, who was also on a motorcycle and was on his way home.
“When Jimena noticed the culprits chasing him, he made a U-turn but the two continued following him and shot him five times using a .45 caliber pistol,” Cobing said in Filipino.
Jimena co-anchored a blocktime commentary program over dyRI-Radio Mindanao Network in Iloilo. The program “Husgador (Judge)” was a commentary on alleged corruption and other illegal activities in the province. (Blocktimers are individuals or groups who buy “blocks” of radio time for programs which they then market to advertisers and various groups.)
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP-Association of Broadcasters in the Philippines) Negros Occidental Chapter chairman Salvador “Buddy” Ferrer told CMFR that Jimena previously resided in a town in the Central Philippine province of Iloilo before relocating to Negros Occidental.
SPO4 Cobing said E.B. Magalona Police operatives are looking into the possible motives behind the killing of Jimena. Cobing said it may be linked to his commentaries or his alleged tie to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as an informant.
Jimena’s family and colleagues believe Jimena’s killing was work-related. Jimena and his co-anchor Cezar Borongan were criticizing local government officials and personalities involved in allegedly corrupt activities in Iloilo.
Prior to the killing, Michael Jimena, brother of Jimena said in an interview with CMFR, his brother had received several threats.
Jimena, according to Borongan, survived a shooting attack in September 2009 in Victorias City, Negros Occidental. Jimena was anchoring the commentary programs “Husgador” with Borongan and GMA-DySI’s “Balbalanay” before he was killed. He had also worked for Dyaryo Iloilo, dyRP in Iloilo City, and dyAG in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental
The program “Husgador” temporarily stopped airing last week after their contract with dyRI expired. Borongan said it was supposed to air again sometime in the second week of September 2011. He said that “Husgador” was funded by the Iloilo Press Club.
If work-related, the killing of Jimena will be the fifth case of a journalist killed in the line of duty under the new administration of President Benigno Aquino III. CMFR has recorded a total of 121 work-related killings since 1986. (For more information, please visit http://www.cmfr-phil.org/journalistkilled/.)
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