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