Two journalists ambushed in RP

Two journalists ambushed in RP

PHILIPPINES: A radio announcer was slain and another was wounded in two daylight ambushes in the Philippines, police said on Tuesday.

John Villanueva, an announcer with radio station DZGB in Legaspi City, south of Manila, was riding a motorcycle when he was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Monday, police said.

In another incident, Jun Pala, an announcer for radio station DXGO in the southern city of Davao, was riding a taxi to work on Tuesday when five men in a black van opened fire on him, wounding him in the buttocks, Davao police said.

Pala, known for his fiery criticism of communist insurgents in the south, said that he and his three bodyguards fired back. He had survived an ambush a few years ago and now travels with bodyguards.

About 39 journalists have been murdered in the Philippines since democracy was restored here in 1986, making the country one of the most perilous in the world for members of the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said earlier this month in its annual report. --AFP