Tacurong City radio journalist in critical condition after gun attack

MANILA, Philippines — A radio journalist in Tacurong City is in critical condition after being shot on Wednesday afternoon.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines reported that two unidentified assailants shot Benjie Caballero five times at 1:15 p.m. 

Tacurong is the commercial center of Sultan Kudarat province.

Caballero is a station manager of Radio ni Juan and also serves as president of the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Task Force on Media Security.

He was in front of his house when he was shot.

The NUJP said that Caballero is in critical condition and was being revived at a hospital as of this post.

"Caballero posted last year on his Facebook account that he is receiving death threats," the group said.

The violent attack against Caballero comes ten days after the killing of Remate columnist Jupiter Gonzales and his companion Christopher Tiongson in Pampanga.

RELATED: Murder raps filed vs 3 suspects in Remate columnist killing

On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists released its Global Impunity Index 2019 where the Philippines ranks fifth.

For the third year in a row, the Philippines has the most “unsolved murders of journalists in countries with [the] worst record for justice,” the CPJ also said.

The Philippines leads with 41 unsolved killings compared to 40 in 2018. The country scored worse than Somalia, Syria and Iraq.