ZAMBOANGA CITY, 18 June 2004 — Unidentified gunmen shot dead a radio broadcaster yesterday in the southern province of South Cotabato, police said. Ely Binoya was killed around 3:15 p.m. after one of two gunmen on board a motorcycle shot him on a highway in Malungon town. Binoya, an announcer of the radio station Radyo Natin, was on his way home also on a motorcycle when the attack happened, said local police chief Willy Dangane. The motive of the killing is still unknown, but Dangane said Binoya was a hard-hitting commentator and among those he criticized were politicians in the province. The Center from Media Freedom and Responsibility in the Philippines deplored the Binoya’s killing, which it said was a sign that journalists in the country remain under continuing threat despite a promise of protection by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Binoya is the 45th journalist to be killed in the Philippines since 1986.
On Feb. 11, broadcaster Ruel Endrinal was also murdered in Legazpi City in Albay province.
Endrinal, of the radio station DZRC, was shot by two unidentified gunmen at around 6:20 a.m. On April 28, two unidentified men killed John Belen Villanueva, Jr. of radio station DZGB also in Legazpi City.
Most of the killings of journalists in the country remain unsolved.
