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Juan Jumalon had simply completed talking right into a silver microphone as he live-streamed his Sunday morning broadcast for a Philippine radio station. As a track started to play, Jumalon — often known as DJ Johnny Walker — was fatally shot whereas viewers watched this system dwell on Fb, Philippine officers mentioned.
Jumalon, a 57-year-old anchor for 94.7 Calamba Gold FM, was shot twice whereas on air from his residence studio within the southern province of Misamis Occidental, police mentioned.
The gunman stole a gold necklace from Jumalon earlier than fleeing, a authorities workplace targeted on media safety mentioned in a press release to The Washington Submit. Video of the assault exhibits Jumalon sinking again in his chair after two gunshots are fired whereas music performs. The obvious attacker, whose face shouldn’t be seen within the video, can be seen taking Jumalon’s necklace.
The capturing occurred about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Misamis Occidental police mentioned in a Fb publish. Authorities requested for the general public’s assist in the investigation because the seek for the attacker continues.
On Monday morning, police launched a photograph of a suspect, a person they are saying is over the age of 40 and was carrying a pink cap with a inexperienced shirt and black quick pants. The attacker fled on a motorbike pushed by somebody ready exterior the house, the Related Press reported, citing native police.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the capturing in a press release on Sunday and mentioned he had ordered the nationwide police to analyze.
“Assaults on journalists is not going to be tolerated in our democracy, and people who threaten the liberty of the press will face the complete penalties of their actions,” Marcos mentioned within the assertion, which was posted on X, previously often known as Twitter.
Jumalon is the fourth member of the press to be killed since Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, took workplace in June 2022, based on the Nationwide Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which tracks assaults towards Filipino journalists. The group described Jumalon’s demise as a “brazen killing” in a press release posted on X.
The Philippines has a marked historical past of violence towards journalists. Simply final yr, radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa, who was vocal about corruption within the nation, was fatally shot whereas driving in Manila. His demise garnered worldwide consideration, as press advocates known as for accountability within the case. Philippine legislation enforcement later charged a number of folks within the case, together with a corrections bureau official, based on Human Rights Watch.
Between 1992 and 2023, 158 journalists and media staff have been killed within the Philippines, information from the Committee to Defend Journalists exhibits. The group ranked the Philippines because the eighth-worst nation for prosecuting folks accused of concentrating on journalists in its 2023 World Impunity Index.
On Sunday night in Quezon Metropolis, the Nationwide Union of Journalists of the Philippines and different teams met to mild candles in honor of Jumalon and different slain members of the press.
“Justice for Juan Jumalon!” a web-based poster for the occasion learn. “Cease killing journalists! Finish impunity!”