Talk Radio Host Shot Dead In Philippines

A controversial talk radio host has been murdered by hooded gunmen in southern Philippines, police said Friday. 

Fernando Solijon, 47, host of a weekday show on DXLS station in Iligan City, had frequently criticized local officials on his radio show and had received death threats in the past.  

Solijon was returning home late Thursday when two men onboard a motorcycle shot him 13 times. “I believe they are professional killers. It is possible that this killing was politically-related,” said Senior Superintendent Cristito Gonzaludo.

“He had received a lot of threats, some of them called into his radio station,” said Joseph Ben Deveza of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

“There are a lot of warlords, a lot of loose firearms and a lot of crime syndicates here. The fight for political positions is more heated and they are quicker to resort to violence,” Deveza told AFP

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, 73 Philippine journalists have been killed in direct connection to their work since 1992, making it the second deadliest country in the world for the press.