

That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” the NUJP said. “The killing shows that journalism remains a dangerous profession in the country. Mabasa had also hit out against a perceived attempt by Marcos family supporters to distort history, and had offered stinging criticism of Duterte’s war on drugs that left thousands dead.

The NUJP noted that Mabasa’s recent commentaries included one aired on YouTube that explored the dangers of “red-tagging” – the military’s practice of accusing anyone of being a sympathizer or communist insurgent without evidence. Mabasa’s colleagues called on the government to speed up its investigation into the killing, which they said underscored how journalism remains a dangerous profession in the Southeast Asian country.
Journalists shot on air video free#
“In a truly free society, there should be no space for violence against our journalists,” Robredo said. “Justice must be served quickly, not just for this murder, but also against the many cases of killing of our journalists,” Robredo said in a statement via Twitter. “We demand that his cowardly assassins be brought to justice,” the family said.įormer Vice President Leni Robredo, who lost to Marcos in the May presidential election, condoled with the Mabasa family and said the killing was another blow against countering the spread of fake news, which observers and analysts here have blamed for contributing to her loss. Mabasa’s commentaries were often “bold and sharp” as he sought to counter fake news spread on air as well as on social media. “We strongly condemn this deplorable crime it was committed not only against Percy, his family, and his profession, but against our country, his beloved Philippines and the truth.” Family members grieve the death of journalist Percival Mabasa at their home in Las Pinas city, Philippines, Oct. “We are deeply saddened and angered by the brutal and brazen killing of fearless broadcaster, father and husband, brother and friend, Percy Lapid,” the statement said. Separately, the Mabasa family issued a statement about the killing, the second case of a journalist being slain since Marcos took office and succeeded Rodrigo Duterte as president at the end of June. His brother, Roy Mabasa, a journalist and a former president of the National Press Club, said the family would let police finish its investigation, but said the attack clearly was due to his work.

“Lapid, host of ‘Lapid Fire’ on DWBL 1242, had been critical of the Duterte administration as well as some personalities in and policies of the Marcos administration,” the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a tweet. Mabasa’s colleagues said the attack could be related to his work, noting he hosted a program where he often attacked alleged government corruption.

Dozens have been killed with impunity since the dictatorship of Marcos’ late father, Ferdinand E. The Southeast Asian nation ranks among the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide. The situation then was very, very quick,” Santos said, adding that a task force has been set up to investigate and to determine the motive for the killing. “We cannot discount the possibility that this was a premeditated attack launched by this (team) riding in tandem. Police were still trying to pin down a motive. “Based on the CCTV footage that we’ve gathered, we saw that there was this motorcycle riding-in-tandem (attackers) who approached and fired upon the victim, after which they fled to an unknown destination,” Santos said. The victim was the fourth Philippine journalist to be gunned down in 2021. Percival Mabasa, better known as Percy Lapid to his listeners at the DWBL radio station where he worked as a political commentator, was killed in the Monday night attack as he drove his car toward a gated community in Las Pinas city, said Col. and his predecessor, colleagues and police said about the latest in a long line of killings of journalists in the Philippines. Gunmen on a motorbike in Metro Manila shot dead a radio commentator who had criticized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
