THE Palace and lawmakers on Friday deplored the killing of a radio broadcaster in Albay province, the 12th under the Duterte administration.

“We strongly condemn the killing of radio reporter Joey Llana in Daraga, Albay, as yet another infringement on the rights to life and a free press,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said in a statement.

ANOTHER JOURNALIST KILLED This is what remains of the vehicle of radio broadcaster Joey Llana, 43, who was gunned down on Friday by unidentified assailants in Daraga, Albay. He
was shot 14 times. PHOTO BY RHAYDZ BARCIA

Roque said the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) would “be relentless in according justice to this latest victim.”

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) secretary Martin Andanar echoed Roque.

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“We are condoning this act of violence, because it is a clear violation of the right to free press. Our [PTFoMS] is moving to assist [Llana’s] family and really investigate the case,” Andanar said in a separate statement.

Llana, 43, single, block timer of DWZR and a resident of Purok 4, Barangay Peñafrancia, Daraga, Albay, was gunned down before the break of dawn on Friday by unidentified assailants.

He was shot 14 times with a .45-caliber gun and a 9mm pistol at 4:45 a.m., while he was maneuvering his car out of his garage. A village councilman reported the incident to the police.

“According to the family of the victim, Joey has been receiving death threats since last year from unknown persons, but these were disregarded and not taken seriously,” said Supt. Benito Dipad, chief of the Daraga police station.

Two males riding a motorcycle were said to have been tracking victim since last week.

“According to the neighbors of Joey Llana, they heard first a single shot and minutes later successive gunshots took place,” Dipad said.

Llana was declared dead at 6:05 a.m. by an emergency management team led by Celestino Rosales.

At DWZR Zoom Radio, owned by Hypersonic Broadcasting Network, he hosted his own program dubbed “Metro Banat.”

His death was the 12th media killing under President Duterte, the third in Albay and the 185th nationwide since 1986.

Jose “Jun” Llana, 34, brother of the victim, said Joey was the fourth in a family of eight siblings and acted as the head of the family.

Climate of fear, impunity

The Philippines ranked 133rd among 180 countries in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders. This was six ranks lower from last year’s 127th spot.

“We cannot allow fear and impunity to reign in a democratic society,” said Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara in statement.

“This violence against a practicing journalist deserves no less than condemnation, as it has no place in a civilized society like ours,” Angara added.

Angara called on authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident to identify and arrest the killers, who remain unknown.

Sen. Grace Poe, in a separate statement, also urged authorities to act swiftly and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Poe, who heads the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, expressed concern that the continued attacks against journalists and the inability of the police to arrest perpetrators could further embolden killers.

“The increasing number of killings of journalists and the slow resolution of cases embolden those who carry out the attacks against the members of the media,” she said.

The Philippines has been considered as one of the “Most Dangerous Countries for Journalists” and is regarded as the most dangerous country for journalists in the Southeast Asia.

WITH REPORTS FROM  JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA,  THERESA CLARE K. TAÑAS AND JEAH DALATEN, TMTC INTERNS