Originally published on December 1, 2013
An outspoken radio journalist was shot dead in the Philippines island of Mindanao on Friday evening by unknown gunmen.
According to local reports, Joas Dignos had a drinking spree at his friend's store in Purok 17, barangay Poblacion in Sayre Highway in Valencia City. He left the building at around 9:30 p.m.
Once outside, he stopped at the back of his car to take a piss, the Sun Star reported.
All of a sudden, two armed men on a motorbike approached him and opened fire.
Dignos managed to run and headed to the front of his car, but another two gunmen reached him and shot him again.
The victim's head, chest and body were hit by a total of 22 bullets.
The four gunmen fled to an unknown direction, while Dignos died at the scene.
The journalist, who commented on local issues in his weekday show Bombardier on DXGT radio, was known for his fiery comments regarding city officials, the radio station personnel said.
The case is now under investigation.
According to local reports, Dignos had been receiving death threats in the past due to his alleged stinging commentaries against local influential personalities.
According to the Philippines' National Union of Journalists, while authorities have yet to determine the motive of Dignos' killing, "if work-related, Dignos would be the 19th case of work-related media killing under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III," Xinhua reported.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ranks the Philippines as one of the worst place for journalists in the world, with at least 72 journalists murdered since 1992, not counting the case of Dignos.
According to Xinhua, 200 media workers have been murdered since the restoration of democracy in the country in 1986.
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