Radio broadcaster gunned down in Albay

The motive for Llana’s slay has not been determined by the authorities yet, however, the victim’s sibling said the broadcaster had received death threats days before his murder. (Photo: Joey Llana/Facebook)

A radio announcer was gunned down in Legazpi City in Albay as he was leaving home for work on Friday morning, July 20, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

Joey Llana, a radio dwZR blocktimer, was leaving his home at Barangay Penafrancia, Daraga town at around 4:45 a.m. when unidentified gunmen showered him with bullets.

Llana, 38, was supposed to host his program, Metrobanat, which airs from 5:30 to 7 in the morning when he was ambushed.

According to reports, the announcer’s assailants used a .45 caliber and 9mm pistols to shoot him 14 times.

The motive for Llana’s slay has not been determined yet by the authorities, however, the victim’s sibling said the broadcaster had received death threats days before his murder.

The NUJP noted that if the reason behind the killing is proven to be related to his work, Llana’s death would be the 12th media killing that happened under the regime of President Rodrigo Duterte, the third in Bicol, and the 185th since 1986.

Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, described Llana’s killing as “another deplorable act which has no place in a democratic society.”

“The increasing number of killings of journalists and the slow resolution of cases embolden those who carry out the attacks against the members of the media,” Poe said.

“Let us not allow the culture of impunity to claim more lives,” she added.

Senator Sonny Angara echoed Poe’s remarks and urged authorities to swiftly conduct an investigation into this “cowardly act and bring to the bar of justice the perpetrators at all cost.”

Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), meanwhile, said that while the reports are still “sketchy at this point,” Task Force Executive Director and Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco ordered an immediate investigation and is currently working with the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Division of Police Regional Office 5 in Bicol.

“The Task Force will leave no stone unturned in the investigation, monitoring and follow-up on the case,” it said.

Last June 7, Dennis Denora, publisher of a community newspaper Trends and Times, was also shot dead while on board his vehicle in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.

His death, the NUJP previously said, was “a clear assault to press freedom, and it amplifies the existing climate of fear among journalists who are working in their local community.”