UNESCO chief denounces slaying of Filipino reporter

MANILA, Philippines — Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), urged Philippine authorities to closely investigate the latest killing of a journalist in the country.

"I condemn the murder of Rubylita Garcia," Bokova said in a statement Sunday.

Garcia, 52, a reporter for the Remate newspaper in Bacoor City in Cavite province and host of a talk show on dwAD radio, was shot dead by two gunmen in her home on April 6.

She is the ninth journalist in the Philippines whose killing has been condemned by Bokova since January 2013.

Read: Tabloid reporter shot dead in Cavite

"It is essential that the authorities of the Philippines do all they can to identify and bring to trial those responsible for this cowardly crime," she added.

The Bulgarian official also criticized the Philippine government for the hundreds of journalists killed in the past two decades.

"Murderers cannot be allowed to set limits to journalists' freedom of expression or on citizens’ rights to information," she said.

The Center of Media Freedom and Responsibility says 140 Filipino journalists have been killed for their work since 1986, but only 13 cases have had convictions.

Cavite police director Senior Superintendent Joselito Esquivel, meanwhile, had told The STAR that the suspect for Garcia's murder has been traced but it is not certain whether he is the killer.

Also read: Police eye capture of reporter's killer with daughter's help