Radio anchor shot dead in the Philippines

Radio anchor shot dead in the Philippines

2011-03-24 21:45:34 GMT+7 (ICT)

MANILA (BNO NEWS) -- A female radio broadcaster on Thursday was shot dead in an ambush in the Philippine capital, GMA News reported.

Len Flores Sumera was on her way to dzME studios where she hosted a program when she was shot in the back of the neck in Metropolitan Manila's suburban Malabon City. She was supposed to co-host a public service program between 10:30 a.m. and noon.

Northern Police District head Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao said that Sumera was rushed to the Valenzuela General Hospital, where she was declared dead. Police investigators are still looking into the motive behind the ambush.

A report on the radio station website said that relatives believed land dispute was the motive behind the crime, GMA News reported.

Sumera, 44, left behind her husband and three children, the radio station said.

According to a tweet by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, "8 women journos have been killed in the line of duty in the PHL since '86. If her case were work-related, Sumera would be the 9th."

The secretary general from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Rowena Paraan, said Sumera is the third media person killed in 2011 and the fourth since President Benigno Aquino took office in mid-2010.

On January 24, Gerardo Ortega, a radio broadcaster, was killed after his radio program. On February 1, police elements found the decomposing body of journalist Cirilo Gallardo with 17 stab wounds.

The Philippines has been branded by international media support groups as among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, especially following the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in Maguindanao province.

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility has recorded 177 work-related killings of journalists and media workers in the Philippines since 1986.

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