A Philippine journalist has been shot dead in an ambush, police said yesterday, the latest such attack in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media.
Christopher Guarin was attacked late on Thursday by two unidentified men on a motorcycle as the 41-year-old radio commentator and newspaper publisher was driving in the southern port of General Santos, police said.
His wife sustained a superficial wound on her arm, while their nine-year-old daughter was unharmed, police investigator Gerald Jubelag said.
He said no suspects had been arrested, but authorities were looking at a possible business rivalry as a motive.
“He jumped out of the car, so we will not be caught by stray bullets,” said his widow, Lyn Guarin.
“I saw my husband lying on the ground helpless, pleading for his life. It fell on deaf ears,” she told reporters.
Freddie Solinap, business manager of the tabloid Tatak published by Guarin, said the victim had frequently received anonymous death threats, the last one a text message on his mobile phone hours before the attack.
“If you show up at the station tonight, we’re going to kill you,” it said.
Guarin later showed up for work and read out the death threat on his early-evening talk show on the dxMD station.
He had been investigated by police, but cleared in the shooting death last year of the circulation manager of a rival local newspaper publisher.
Guarin was the first journalist killed in the Philippines this year, said Edwin Espejo, an official of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which has been campaigning for greater protection for reporters.
Media organizations and rights groups say the Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, with six media workers killed and another wounded last year.
A total of 148 journalists have been killed in the country since 1986, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
The deadliest year for the country’s media occurred in 2009, when 32 media workers were among 57 people murdered in the south, allegedly by members of a clan, who wanted to eliminate a rival’s political challenge.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
RSS