ZAMBOANGA CITY, 5 October 2005 — A newspaper reporter was seriously injured when he was shot at by a still unidentified gunman in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao yesterday, the latest in a series of attacks on journalists in the country.

Officials said Danilo Aguirre and a photographer, both working for the Mindanao Bulletin, were walking back to their office from a nearby store in General Santos city when a man wearing a ski mask and a motorcycle helmet shot Aguirre from behind.

Before escaping, the gunman tried to shoot the wounded reporter again but his .45-caliber pistol jammed, said police Senior Inspector Aniano Delco.

The gunman was probably aiming for Aguirre’s head but photographer Emmanuel Zaldimar shoved him just in time, publisher John Paul Jubelag said.

Senior Superintendent Pedro Tango, chief of a police task force on attacks against journalists, said Aguirre sustained a single gunshot wound in his stomach.

Tango noted that Aguirre’s columns usually tackled “developmental issues,” adding that the victim does not have the reputation of being a hard-hitting journalist.

Aguirre, 25, has been working for the newspaper for only two months and wrote business stories and features on personalities, none of them controversial, Jubelag said. However, Jubelag said his newspaper has been reporting on corruption in the judiciary and exposing alleged abuses by judges.

Edel Roderos, a commentator from DXCP radio in General Santos, said he and about six other local journalists donated blood for Aguirre.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the shooting as “an attack on media.”

“It is a reflection of the government’s failure to ensure security not only for journalists but for all Filipinos, especially those in the provinces who complain of human rights violations as our leaders busy themselves with politics in the capital,” the group said, referring to the political turmoil that continues after the defeat of a move to impeach President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

So far this year, six journalists have been killed in the Philippines, while several others were injured in separate attacks.

Last year, 13 journalists were killed in the Philippines, which had been ranked by international media groups as one of the most dangerous places for reporters in the world.

The NUJP has reported that 69 journalists have been murdered since 1986 — six this year alone. (With input from agencies.)