A radio reporter was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last night in the village of Daro in Dumaguete City.
Rex Cornelio Pepino, who also goes by the name Rex Cornelio, was on his way home to the town of Sibulan after hosting his radio program, Pokpokin Mo Baby (“Hit It Baby”), which was broadcast over Energy FM 93.7, reports Cebu Daily News.
He was on board a motorcycle with his wife Colleen Pepino when two bike-riding gunmen approached them and shot Rex several times at about 8:30pm along the city’s North Road, reports GMA News.
Rex was rushed to the Silliman University Medical Center but he was pronounced dead on arrival by his attending physician, reports Rappler. He is the third Dumaguete-based broadcaster to have been killed since 2018. In November, radio announcer Dindo Generoso was killed from eight gunshot wounds, while in May 2018, Edmund Sestoso was shot to death.
Read: 2 suspects arrested in connection with Dumaguete City radio announcer’s killing
Suspects have been charged in connection with Generoso’s killing, but Sestoso’s death remains unsolved.
In October 2019, the Committee to Protect Journalists declared the Philippines as the fifth deadliest country in the world, mostly due to the deaths of several journalists in the Maguindanao Massacre in 2009. The Ampatuan family, the primary suspects behind the massacre, have been convicted, but at least 70 of their co-accused remain at large.
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