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Filipinos condemn killing of journalist in Philippines

DUBAI — Dubai-based Filipino journalists have condemned the recent killing of a fellow journalist in the Southern Philippines. They have also expressed concern over the violence against mediapersons in the country that has been continuing for the past six years.

International media have reported that Hernani Pastolero Sr, Editor-in-Chief of community newspaper Cotabato Lightning Courier Weekly, was shot dead last Monday by an unidentified gunman at his residence in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao.

"I feel that 'truth' is not safe in the Philippines in the midst of a culture of death and reprisal," said Jay Hilotin, President of the Filipino Press Club-UAE, an organisation of Filipino mediapersons.

Dindo Amparo, News Bureau Chief of ABS-CBN Middle East, said journalists have been easy targets of violence in the Philippines. "A law that imposes heavy penalties on culprits who have killed mediapersons should be enforced," said Amparo.