MANILA, Philippines – A female broadcaster was killed in Zamboanga City on Tuesday night, October 22, the National Union of Journalists (NUJP) said in an alert.
Ma. Vilma Rodriguez was shot three times by assailants while sitting at a store mere meters from her house, the alert said.
The victim managed to walk back to her house to tell a daughter she had been shot, it added.
Rodriguez was taken to the Zamboanga City Medical Center where she was declared dead at 9:37 PM due to three gunshot wounds on her belly.
She was 56, a single mother of four children.
A radio anchor at eMedia 105.9 News FM for a year prior to her death, Rodriguez hosted the show called Barangay Affairs.
Radio station executive and colleague Rey Bayoging described the victim’s show as “not a hard-hitting one,” that capitalized on Rodriguez’s deep knowledge of community affairs as a barangay secretary and team leader.
Bayoging reportedly learned from one of the victim’s children that their mother had a rift with some relatives who had earlier verbally assaulted her.
The incident led to a barangay hearing for settlement.
“Vilma informed her children that she received death threats, but she never informed us about this,” Bayoging said.
Rodriguez is the second female journalist killed in Zamboanga City after DXXX 1008 AM radio reporter Gloria Martin who was killed in December 1992.
NUJP Zamboanga City Chapter condemned the attack against Rodriguez and urged the police to probe deeper into the murder.
“We don’t need a tale of another unsolved case that ended up as archives or statistics,” the group said.
The group added that the Zamboanga City Police Office was quick to deny that the killing was related to Rodriguez’s job as a broadcaster, adding it has already identified some “persons of interest” in the incident.
Rodriguez is the fifth journalist killed under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.
Broadcasters Rey Blanco was killed in Negros Oriental in September 2022, Percival Mabasa was assassinated in October 2022 in Metro Manila, Crecenciano Bunduquin was killed in May 2023 in Oriental Mindoro, and Juan Jumalon in Misamis Occidental last November.
Still without an executive director, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security has not yet issued a statement as of press time.
In its 2024 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders categorized the Philippines to be under “difficult conditions,” ranking 134th out of 180 countries.
READ: RP falls in 2024 press freedom index due to red-tagging, Cumpio’s continuing imprisonment
In its Global Impunity Index, US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has ranked the Philippines as the eighth most dangerous country for journalists in the world. (reposted by davaotoday.com)
philippines, Press freedom, Zamboanga City
