The National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) and the Bicol Press Club (BPC) on Monday condemned the shooting of media practitioner Noel Bellen Samar in Guinobatan, Albay.
Samar, 54, who is affiliated with Kadunong ITV and DWIZ, was shot along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Morera around 9 a.m.
He was rushed to the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center in this city, where he is undergoing treatment after sustaining four gunshot wounds from a .45-caliber pistol.
The motive has yet to be determined.
The NPC lauded the immediate response of the Police Regional Office 5 (PRO5) and the Albay Police Provincial Office for launching a hot pursuit operation and creating a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG ‘Samar’) to conduct a thorough probe.
NPC president Leonel Abasola called on PRO5 director Brig. Gen. Nestor Babagay Jr. and the Philippine National Police to exhaust all efforts to identify, track down, and arrest the assailant, and to determine if the attack was work-related.
‘The NPC stands in solidarity with our colleague Noel Samar, his family, and the entire media community in Bicol. We denounce this cowardly act of violence against a member of the press,’ Abasola said in a statement.
He stressed that violence and intimidation have no place in a democratic society and that journalists must be allowed to work freely and safely.
BPC president Ruel Saldico echoed the call, urging the government, law enforcement agencies, and media groups to unite to ensure justice.
‘Every attack on a journalist is an attack on press freedom itself,’ he said