Journalist killings Archives

We will not surrender our freedoms

Today, Independence Day, we renew our pledge to serve the people, to continue speaking truth to power, and to guard and defend freedom of the press and of expression from all threats.

Covering the Pandemic

Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic

The Silent Media

Native Advertising: Not just a Problem of One

Tabloid Columnist Gunned Down in Masbate

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Two unidentified men on a motorcycle shot dead a columnist for Remate, Joaquin Briones, in Milagros, Masbate around 8 a.m. on March 13. He was also a former radio commentator. Remate, a national tabloid in Filipino, is published in Manila. If proven work-related, the killing is...

Cotabato Radio Blocktimer Shot Dead

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A radio blocktimer, who was also a close-in aide of Mayor Russel Abonado of M’lang, Cotabato, was fatally shot in this town by unidentified suspects on February 1. Cotabato is 1,225 kilometers south of Manila. Marlon Muyco was riding a motorcycle on his way home with...

Resigned Broadcaster Killed in Ilocos Sur

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Unidentified men riding a motorcycle shot Mario Contaoi who has been identified by different reports as a volunteer reporter, program anchor, as well as a university professor and beach owner on 6 January 2017, in Magsingal town, Ilocos Sur, a province 370 kilometers north of Manila....

Publisher-columnist Shot in Catanduanes; First Journalist Killed Under Duterte

CMFR/ PHILIPPINES – An unidentified gunman shot the publisher-columnist of a two-week old community newspaper in Catanduanes on 19 December 2016. His death is the first media killing under the watch of President Rodrigo Duterte. It is also the first journalist killing in Catanduanes and the eighth in...

Former Mayor Convicted for 2004 Killing of Broadcaster

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – The Cebu City court convicted of homicide on 10 August 2016 a former mayor of the municipality of Lezo in Aklan accused of killing broadcaster Herson Hinolan in 2004. Aklan is approximately 461 kilometers south of Manila. Branch 16 Judge Sylva Aguirre-Paderanga of the Regional Trial...

Protecting Journalists, Protecting Democracy

CMFR TAKES exception to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s statement, made during his May 31st press conference in Davao City, that most of the journalists who have been killed in the Philippines for their work were slain because they’re corrupt. While corruption is undoubtedly a continuing problem in the press...

Tabloid Reporter Shot Dead in Manila; Second Case of Journalist Killed in 2016

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A lone gunman shot dead a reporter for a weekly tabloid in Manila on 27 May 2016. The killing is the second incident of a journalist killed this year and only the seventh in the National Capital Region since 1986. Most of the journalists killed in the...

Accused Mastermind in 2011 Killing of Journalist Granted Bail

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Former Coron City, Palawan, Mayor Marjo Reyes, one of the accused in the 2011 killing of broadcaster and environmentalist Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega, has been granted bail. Four days later, his brother and co-accused, former Palawan governor Joel Reyes, took the stand to justify his own petition...

Batangas Court Acquits Suspect in 2009 Broadcaster Killing

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A court in Batangas acquitted a police officer accused of killing a lawyer-broadcaster in 2009. The decision was promulgated 14 April 2016. Lipa City Regional Trial Court Branch 85 Judge Wilfredo Castillo acquitted and ordered the release of police officer Darwin Quimoyog who was accused...

Criminal Libel Suits Against Journalists

A journalist was convicted of libel and another arrested in the Philippines on the same charge in less than two months. But two other libel cases against media workers were dismissed during the same period. Libel is still a criminal offense in the Philippines despite calls for its decriminalization....