Piercing Pens

Carlos Conde, moderator of PinoyPress, just sent an e-mail alert on the reported shooting of another journalist in General Santos City.

He wrote that Jonathan “Jun” Abayon, 27, a reporter of RGMA Superadyo in that city, is in critical condition after he was shot in the head early this morning, allegedly by a bodyguard of Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

Superadyo station manager, Cris Guarin, said the victim had been drinking with the suspect, William Pael, the night before. Abayon was on his way home when he was shot near the home of Pacquiao in barangay Labangon, General Santos City, Guarin said.

Guarin said Abayon was just a field reporter, not a commentator. “I am not aware that he made enemies because of his job,” he said in a telephone interview from General Santos. He said a witness had seen the shooting. The police are still investigating while the suspect is still at large.

Guarin was not inclined to declare the shooting as job-related. “Let’s just wait for the complete police investigation,” he said. He said Abayon had been with RGMA Superadyo “for years”; he described the reporter as “okay.”

Abayon is the sixth Philippine journalist attacked within the past eight
days.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 8th, 2004 at 10:48 am and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.