SW News: Filipino journalist Percy Lapid, a fearless critic of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, was killed near the capital Manila on Tuesday.

The 63-year-old radio commentator was shot dead by unidentified attackers near his home in suburban Manila. Reports also say that one of the suspects, who remain unidentified, was riding a motorcycle while the other was in a white Toyota Fortuner.

Lapid whose real name was Percival Mabasa, is the second Filipino journalist to be murdered since Marcos Junior took office on June 30. Media groups and activists have described his assassination as a blow to press freedom. The radio host spoke out courageously against fake news and historical distortions affecting martial law.

In his last broadcast, he talked about red-tagging and its dangers. His brother Roy Mabasa, also a journalist and former president of the National Press Club, posted a photo along with him on social media and shared that it was his last encounter with Percy, who was ambushed while on his way to the studio where he broadcast his “Lapid Fire” program.

Paying tributes to his brother, Roy posted, “He was a great family man, loving father to his children, and a dedicated husband to his wife, Liza. I will always remember my brother for his deep faith in God and his undying love for his country.”

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has condemned the attack. “The killing shows that journalism remains a dangerous profession in the country. That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” NUJP said.

The Philippines has one of Asia’s most liberal media, but it remains one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, particularly in its provinces. International watchdog Reporters Without Borders has said that at least 187 journalists have been killed in the past 35 years in the Philippines, including 32 in a single incident in 2009.

Lapid’s family called his killing a “deplorable crime” and demanded “his cowardly assassins be brought to justice”.