Cresenciano Bunduquin, host of the regional radio broadcasting station 101.7 DWXR, was shot dead outside his home in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro yesterday.
Bunduquin is the third journalist killed under Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration, in less than a year since assuming office, following the deaths of Renato Blanco and Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
The hot pursuit operation is still ongoing, though one of the two assailants died of incurring head injuries while fleeing from the crime scene. Eventually, the police had already identified a person of interest, according to Oriental Mindoro Provincial Police Office Chief Samuel Delorino.
Prior to the killing, Bunduquin was critical of the government’s response to the oil spill in their province and other political concerns, station manager Jester Joaquin told the Agence France-Presse.
“Bunduquin’s [death] further shows that journalists in the Philippines still operate under threat despite our improvement in the press freedom index, and the relatively friendlier relations that media has with the current administration,” said Jonathan de Santos, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).
The Philippines ranked 132nd out of 180 countries in this year’s Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. This is 15 places better than the 2022 report’s 147th rank.
Despite this, a total of 75 attacks and threats against journalists were documented by NUJP and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility from June 30, 2022 to April 30, 2023. These 75 violations within the first months of Marcos Jr.’s presidency already surpassed the average 41 cases per year tallied under Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
Bunduquin also suffered from these attacks as he reported receiving threats before, Joaquin shared. This prompted Bunduquin to consider changing his line of work before he was slain.
The embassies of Canada and the Netherlands in the Philippines expressed concern about the killing and called for accountability. These embassies are co-chairs of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a partnership of more than 50 countries campaigning for press freedom.
“Media freedom is an integral element of democracy. To safeguard it, it is essential that journalists can execute their work without fearing for their lives and safety. Attacks on media workers must be urgently investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable,” MFC wrote in their statement. ●
