MANILA, Feb. 15 -- The Palace condemned the killing of a radio commentator in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, saying the police are already running after the perpetrators.
"Nakikiisa ang pamahalaan sa pagkondena ng pagpaslang ng isang radio commentator ng dyRD sa Lungsod ng Tagbilaran sa Bohol na si Maurito Lim," Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a radio interview.
"Kasalukuyan nang kumikilos ang mga lokal na awtoridad upang madakip at mapanagot ang may kagagawan ng krimen," he said in an interview over dzRB Radyo Ng Bayan.
The government recognizes the role of the people in a democratic society that's why the administration works with the members of the press to ensure their safety while doing their jobs, he said.
Lim, a local journalist who had been criticizing local officials linked to narcotics was killed in Tagbilaran City before noon Saturday, according to the Bohol police.
He was shot at around 10:35 a.m. in front of the dyRD radio station in Tagbilaran City by a still unidentified gunman who was on board a motorcycle, police said.
Lim was shot in the face and was rushed to the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, but died at around 1 p.m.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said Lim was the second journalists to be killed in Tagbilaran, and the 34th to be slain during the Aquino administration.
In October last year, President Benigno S. Aquino III said his administration will continue to work to stop attacks on members of the press. (PCOO/PND (as)