Attempt on life of Filipino broadcaster false

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 1, 2010) – A Filipino media watch dog corrected reports that broadcaster had been shot and wounded by gunmen in the southern Philippine province city of Valencia.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines earlier issued a bulletin saying that Randy Makiputin, 39, who works for the Radyo Abante, was shot in the head.

Media groups also denounced the attack.

“Based on police reports, Makiputin sustained a lone gunshot wound on the back of his head. Attending physicians at the Sanitarium Hospital in Valencia City has already declared him out of danger, police said,” the bulletin said.

It said four gunmen were involved in the attack and that police forces were sent to track down the assailants.

“The supposed ambush attempt on (the life of) 39-year old Bukidnon radio commentator Randy T. Makiputin in Valencia City last Friday, November 26, has turned out to be false,” it said.

It said 4 individuals - two of them minors - have surfaced and claimed that Makiputin’s head wound was sustained when he crashed his motorcycle after hitting one of them.

“Both are residents of Maramag town in Bukidnon and have executed sworn statements before police authorities accusing Makiputin of pointing a gun at them after the crash. Makiputin was also said to be intoxicated at the time of the incident,” it added. “Makiputin has checked himself out of the hospital and can no longer be reached for comment as of Sunday, November 28.”

Dozens of journalists had been killed in gun attacks in the Philippines which have become one of the world’s most dangerous places for reporters. Last year, at least 57 people had been brutally murdered, among them 32 journalists, in Maguindanao province in the country’s worst political killings blamed to the powerful and influential Muslim clan in the troubled region. (Mindanao Examiner)