A Filipino broadcast journalist was killed Monday in the southern Philippines, news reports said quoting police sources. Aresio Padrigao, a commentator for local radio station DXRS, was shot dead by gunmen aboard a motorcycle in Gingoog town in Misamis Oriental province, 795 km south of Manila.
Padrigao is the fourth journalist to be killed in the Philippines this year. Last year, four journalists were killed, while 13 were killed in 2006. Most of the killings remain unresolved.
Padrigao, a known critic of local government officials in Misamis Oriental, had just brought his child to school when the assailants attacked him. Padrigao was a reported critic of Mayor Ruthy Guingona.
Misamis Oriental provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Catalino Rodriguez said the victim died on the spot and the suspects escaped. Rodriguez said police investigators were still determining the motive behind the attack, according to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) report.
