Friday
Sep 10th
| Another journalist shot in central Philippines |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Thursday, 26 July 2007 12:38 |
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Sagay City, Negros Occidental - A radio station manager was wounded in yet another shooting incident involving a journalist. The victim this time is Ferdinand "Bambi" Yngson, station manager at RGMA-Bacolod, who was wounded after a shotgun was fired at him yesterday morning, July 25, outside this city's public market. Yngson is currently receiving treatment for his wounded arm at the Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. The suspected gunman, identified as Land Transportation Office deputy officer Romeo Corbo, was arrested immediately following the shot, while attempting to flee the scene. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the shooting in a statement it released today. IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said the incident was another example of the unsafe conditions which working journalists face in the Philippines. “Four journalists have been killed in the Philippines already this year,” Park said. “The Philippines government must act not only to protect the press freedom enshrined in its constitution, but to protect the journalists who seek to enforce it,” she said. According to witnesses, Yngson and Corbo were involved in an altercation prior to the shooting. Yngson’s wife said the station manager had been commenting on the corruption of the Land Transportation Office before he was shot. “The IFJ calls on the Filipino authorities to find and convict those responsible for this crime, and to lay down an appropriate punishment,” Park said. “This sort of violence is completely unacceptable. The authorities must set an example that such violations of free expression and human rights will be punished, so that journalists can work without fear,” she said. |
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