Al Jacinto, Arab News
ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 November 2004 — An unidentified gunman shot dead a photojournalist working on a corruption story in the strife-torn island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, officials and a media group said.
The gunman shot the 25-year old Gene Boyd Lumawag at the back of his head while walking in downtown Jolo at around 6.10 p.m., the military said in a report.
Carolyn Arguillas, editor of the regional news agency MindaNews, said Lumawag was on his way to shoot the sunset from the pier of Jolo when felled by a lone bullet from a caliber .45 handgun.”
In a statement posted on the MindaNews website, Arguillas said the victim was found by soldiers. “No one in the crime scene could tell me how it happened,” she said.
The media watchdog National Union of Journalist in the Philippines (NUJP) said, however, that the journalists — both based in Davao City — were working on a corruption story in Jolo.
Arguillas said army investigators told her that Lumawag may have been gunned down by members of an “urban terrorist group” allegedly of the Abu Sayyaf.
“Gene Boyd was looking forward to his first coverage of Eid Al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan,” Arguillas added in the statement.
Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza has ordered the military and the police to hunt down the assailant, deputy regional spokesman Capt. Richie Pabilonia said last night.
Jolo military chief Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala said they have provided protection to Arguillas and that the body of the slain journalist was brought to a hospital.
At least eight Filipino journalists had been killed this year.
