04 October 2022 | CPJ
Radio journalist shot and killed in the Philippines
Shooting
Radio commentator Percival Mabasa–better known as Percy Lapid–was gunned down inside his vehicle by unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants in Las Piñas City, Philippines, on the night of Monday, October 3, according to the national police and news reports. He was on his way to work at the time, his brother Roy Mabasa said on Facebook.
Mabasa, host of the “Lapid Fire” program on the DWBL 1242 radio station, had been a prominent critic of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte in his commentaries and YouTube broadcasts, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
“The killing of radio journalist Percival Mabasa once again shows the Philippines remains one of the most dangerous places for journalists,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must end the culture of impunity that surrounds the killing of Filipino journalists. This cannot continue as business as usual.”
The Presidential Task Force for Media Security, a government body composed of law enforcement agencies including the national police, said in a statement on its Facebook page that it would presume Mabasa’s killing to be “work related” while investigating, though it was too early to establish the exact motive.
Read the original article here: https://cpj.org/2022/10/radio-journalist-percival-mabasa-shot-and-killed-in-the-philippines/
