BAGUIO CITY — Press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is urging Philippine authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of lady broadcaster Maria Vilma Rodriguez Tuesday evening in Zamboanga City.

Ms. Rodriguez, who presented 105.9 Emedia FM’s news program Barangay Action Center, was shot three times in a store near her home.

The killing shows that the “murderers of journalists remain undeterred in the Philippines,” Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative based in Bangkok said in a statement.

He pointed out, “until President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s government firmly moves to end impunity, these heinous crimes against the press will continue.”

In a separate statement, human rights group Karapatan also denounced the killing of a Zamboanga radio broadcaster.

“No concrete steps have been taken by the Marcos Jr. administration despite the findings of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Irene Khan, during her official country visit last January 2024,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina C. Palabay said.

“The case of Rodriguez should not be another statistic in the long list of crimes and human rights violations under the Marcos Jr. administration.”

The Office of the President earlier condemned Rodriguez’s killing and called for a “swift and impartial probe,” while Philippine National Police spokesperson Colonel Jean S. Fajardo during a press briefing claimed that the lady broadcaster was shot by a relative over a land dispute following an argument the previous day.

Ms. Fajardo added that the suspect in Ms. Rodriguez’s killing had already been arrested. — Artemio A. Dumlao and John Victor D. Ordoñez