CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A radio broadcaster has been receiving death threats following his reports on anti-drug operations by authorities in Bukidnon province in southern Philippines, said National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
The media watch dog said Mars Medina was also visited at his work by a dismissed policeman who offered money for him to stop reporting on illegal gambling activities in the town of Maramag.
Medina, program director of Radyo Abante in Maramag, told NUJP that he began receiving threats to his life after the arrest of five suspects and seizure of about P7 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride in nearby Kalilangan town by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on September 12.
The NUJP said Medina anchors the daily early morning news program of Radyo Abante and also hosts a block time program of the provincial government every Wednesdays over four radio stations in Bukidnon.
Medina said the text messages specifically referred to the September 12 drug bust. He said the author of the text messages refused to identify himself and warned him that he is being targeted by supposed drug lords for reporting on the drug bust.
Medina said he has informed the police and other media colleagues in the province regarding the death threats. Last year, Radyo Abante was also the object of a grenade attack. (Mindanao Examiner, NUJP)
20