Iloilo broadcaster survives attack

MANILA, Philippines – Armed men shot an Iloilo-based radio broadcaster on Friday morning, March 2, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said. He survived the attack.

The police in Jaro, Iloilo reported that 2 unidentified men on a motorcycle fired three shots at Fernando “Kapid” Gabio, blocktimer and co-host of slain broadcaster Niel “Lito” Jimena at radio station dyRI, in front of his house in Barangay Democracia at around 7 am, the NUJP added.

Station dyRI is under Radio Mindanao Network.

The 62-year-old Gabio sustained a bullet wound in the right thigh. The NUJP quoted him as saying that he was cleaning his car when the men shot him. He tried to pull out his gun to retaliate, but the assailants sped away, according to the NUJP.

Gabio was rushed to the Iloilo Mission Hospital for treatment.

According to Nestor Burgos, NUJP chair and Visayas correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Gabio has been “hosting block-time radio programs especially during election periods attacking or defending politicians.” 

The NUJP said investigators have yet to determine the possible motive behind the attack, although they are looking into the possible links between this and the killing of his cohost Jimena.

On Aug. 22, 2011, gunmen killed Jimena in E.B. Magalona town in Negros Occidental.

Jimena’s case is unsolved but the Negros Occidental police earlier said his killing could be related to his work as a broadcaster and as former informant of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the police intelligence unit in Iloilo, according to the NUJP. – Rappler.com