Gov't vows justice for slain radio commentator

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government today condemned the recent murder of a radio commentator in southern Philippine city of Iligan, vowing to bring his murderer to justice.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the police are doing their job to immediately resolve the killing of Fernando Solijon, who was shot dead Thursday night in a coastal village of Buru-un in Iligan.

"The government is not tolerating this kind of incident especially if it's against the media practitioners," she said on a state-run radio station.

Solijon, 48, of dxLS Love Radio, is a well-known radio commentator critical of alleged corruption and rising crime in Iligan. The radio station, where Solijon worked for seven years, described the killing as "work-related."

According to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Solijon would be the 159th journalist killed in the country since 1986 if his killing is proven to be work-related.