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Journalist shot dead in Manila

Xinhua, May 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

A crime reporter has been shot dead in Manila, police said on Saturday.

Police identified the victim as Alex Balcoba, 56, a reporter who writes for People's Brigada tabloid. He was gunned down at around 7:30 p.m. Friday in front of the family-owned watch repair shop in Manila's Quiapo suburb, police said.

Police said the two gunmen who fatally shot Balcoba in the head with a pistol fled on a motorcycle after the shooting. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died later, police said.

Police have yet to determine the motive of the killing.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned the cold-blooded killing of Balcoba, saying the victim is the 174th journalist slain in the line of duty since 1986 and the 34th under the watch of President Benigno Aquino.

"But whether or not Balcoba's murder is related to his work as a journalist, we demand that authorities act speedily to catch his killers and bring them to justice," NUJP's chair Ryan Rosauro said in a statement.

"Our country has suffered too long from the impunity with which murder continues to be committed," he said. Endit