Gunmen wound journalist in Philippines

MANILA – A journalist was among five people wounded in an ambush in Manila, the Philippine police said on Friday. The incident was the latest in a long list of violence against journalists.

Mr Joshua Abiad, a photographer for the Manila-based tabloid Remate, was wounded in the arm when gunmen in a car attacked his vehicle, district police chief Brigadier-General Nicolas Torre said.

Mr Abiad and the other people injured in the attack, including his child and brother, were receiving treatment at a hospital in the Philippine capital, Brig-Gen Torre added.

Police have not named a suspect but Brig-Gen Torre told Manila radio station DWPM in an interview that it could be linked to Mr Abiad’s work documenting a deadly seven-year-old crackdown on illegal drugs.

Mr Abiad is “a police beat reporter and is witness to some drug cases, so there are summonses sent to them to testify”, he said, without naming the courts or cases involved.

Manila police chief Major-General Edgar Okubo said: “This heinous act is an attack not only on the individuals involved but also on the freedom of the press and the values we hold dear as a society.”

The archipelago nation is

one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists,

and most killings often go unpunished.

With three journalists killed in the past year, the Philippines ranks seventh in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ impunity index, which measures unsolved journalist murders relative to the total population.

It is rare for journalists to be attacked in Manila. Often, radio broadcasters outside the capital are targeted.

Thousands of mostly poor men were killed during the anti-narcotics crackdown launched by former president Rodrigo Duterte during his 2016 to 2022 term.

An international investigation was launched into possible crimes against humanity committed during that campaign.

Mr Duterte’s successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr has continued the crackdown while pushing for a greater focus on prevention and rehabilitation. AFP