Press freedom watchdog CPJ urges Phl authorities’ swift probe on lady broadcaster’s killing

Press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging Philippine authorities’ a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of lady broadcaster Mari Vilma Rodriguez Tuesday evening in Zamboanga City.

Rodriguez, who presented 105.9 Emedia FM’s news program Barangay Action Center, was killed by a lone shooter three times in a store near her home.

“(The killing)”, Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative based in Bangkok, Thailand in a statement said, “shows that the murderers of journalists remain undeterred in the Philippines.”  He pointed out, "Until President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government firmly moves to end impunity, these heinous crimes against the press will continue."

The Office of the President earlier condemned Rodriguez’s killing and called for a “swift and impartial probe”, while Philippine National Police spokesperson Jean Fajardo during a press briefing claimed that the lady broadcaster was shot by a relative over a land dispute following an argument the previous day.

Fajardo had added that the suspect in Rodriguez’s killing had already been arrested.

The recent CPJ Impunity Index placed the Philippines on eighth rank on a global ranking of countries where journalists’ murderers are most likely to go free.