Broadcaster Shot In Aklan

Broadcaster Shot In Aklan

http://www.nujp.org

MANILA (NUJP/Pacific Media Watch): Heherson Hinolan, station manager of DYIN Bombo Radyo Kalibo was shot by an unidentified gunman last night (August 13) in the capital of Aklan province, on Panay island in the central part of the Philippines.

Hinolan, better known by his radio call name, Bombo Boy, and an anchor of the popular radio morning program, Bombohanay bigtime, is in critical condition at the provincial hospital in Kalibo.

Per interviews with his colleagues, Hinolan and a lone bodyguard had dropped by a street fair along Desposorio Maagma St. after work. Hinolan had left his companion briefly to urinate when he was shot.

The suspect remains unidentified and the motive could still not be ascertained, but colleagues say Hinolan has received a number of death threats "from all fronts" due to his hard-hitting commentaries.

In Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, reports said gunmen had also shot at a vehicle owned by cable presenter Eric Tenerife. Investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the incident.

Hinolan's shooting came two days after Mindanao photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag was shot dead in Jolo. He was the ninth journalists to be slain this year, the 58th since democracy was restored in 1986.

Military authorities have claimed the suspect was a still unidentified hitman of the Abu Sayyaf. Journalists, however, have urged a deeper investigation, fearing possibility of a scapegoat.

Aside from preparing to cover the eid fitr, a holy day for Muslims, Lumawag and his companion, Mindanews editor Carolyn Arguillas, were reportedly pursuing a story on corruption. Arguillas was inside their lodgings when Lumawag was shot. She was unharmed.

Refer to inday espina-varona
inday@nujp.org
0916-751-25-22

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PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH ONLINE
http://www.pmw.c2o.org

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).

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