Journalist shot dead in Philippines

In the Philippines, renowned journalist Percival Mabasa has been shot dead. He was killed near his home in the capital Manila on Monday (October 3) night. This is the second murder of a Journalist in the Philippines after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office as president. The country's journalist community has been shocked by the horrific murder.

Percival Mabasa, 63, was a strong critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte and his government's policies. In that series, he criticized the government of Duterte's successor, new President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He was also known as Parsi Lapid, a widely popular journalist among the general public.

Manila police said on Tuesday that Percival Mabasa was driving to his office, the DWBL radio station, on Monday night. He was shot at by two motorcycle-borne miscreants when he was going some distance away from his house in Las Pinas area.

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Local journalists' organisations have strongly condemned the killing. The National Union of the Philippines said in a statement: "The killing of Mabasa shows how dangerous journalism as a profession is in the Philippines. ’

The statement also said, "Such an incident happened in the city itself." This shows how reckless the miscreants are. At the same time, the failure of the authorities to protect journalists as well as the general public is clear.

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Mabasa's brutal murder has left his family devastated. Calling this murder an 'unforgivable crime', they called for the killers to be brought to justice.

The government has not yet commented on Mabasa's killing despite the storm of condemnation and criticism across the Philippines. But the police have promised to bring the killers to justice. A top Metro Manila police official said a special task group has been formed to investigate Mabasa's death.

The killing of journalists has recently become a regular occurrence in the Philippines. Mabas killing is the latest in the long list of killed journalists. The country is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists and killers go unpunished. According to a report last year (2021) by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the Philippines ranks seventh in the global impunity index for killers of journalists.