Andres Acosta radio reporter dzIC killed (stabbed)

12/22/2006
Another journalist was slain in the town of Batac in Ilocos Norte, north of Manila, on Wednesday night when he was stabbed by an unidentified assailant, police reported yesterday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil, Ilocos regional police director, said he has directed Ilocos provincial director Senior Supt. Roman Felix and PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) regional head Senior Supt. Melvin Bolabota to look into the killing of radio reporter Andres Acosta. Bataoil added Acosta, who had worked
for the local radio station dzIC, was assaulted around 10 p.m. Wednesday, after which the suspect fled. The local police hinted that the killing may be work-related, saying Acosta in the past testified in a court case and has since been a marked man. He had been receiving death threats, Chief Supt. Bienvenido Rayco said without identifying any suspects. Rayco added Acosta was found dead on the national highway. He said Acosta bled to death as he apparently was trying to get himself to the hospital. But the government-run Philippine News Agency also yesterday said the victim was taken to a nearby hospital where he died, making him the 27th Filipino journalist to be slain since January 2001, based on figures of the PNP Task Force Usig.
Of the 26 previous killings, task force chief and PNP deputy chief for operations Deputy Director General Avelino Razon said, 21 have been solved, meaning cases have been filed in the courts, while the rest are still under investigation. I ordered the provincial (police director) and the regional CIDG chief to proceed to Batac and supervise the ongoing investigation with instructions to immediately identify the suspect and the motive, Bataoil said.
Acosta is the fifth journalist to be killed in the Philippines this year, after seven were murdered in 2005.
The spate of unsolved killings targeting members of the press has made the Philippines the second most dangerous place for journalists next to Iraq, press watchdog groups say. Gina Peralta-Elorde, PNA and AFP
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