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DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 20 April) — A radio commentator in Butuan City was stabbed by a still unknown assailant Saturday morning and died in the hospital where he was rushed to, the Media Safety Office of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a news alert.
The NUJP said that according to the Butuan police, Francis Patindol of station DXJM was with some companions outside the Alba Copy Center on Narra Road, Barangay New Society when the still unknown assailant stabbed him on the left side of his chest at around 10 a.m. then fled.
Patindol was rushed to the MJ Santos Hospital where he died.
The motive for Patindol’s murder is still unknown but the NUJP said that “if proven to be work-related, he would be the 187th journalist killed in the line of duty the country since 1986 and the 13th under President Rodrigo Duterte.”
According to DXBN Butuan, Brig. Gen. Gilbert Cruz, regional director of Caraga police immediately directed Butuan City Police Office look into the stabbing incident.
DXBN said the suspect “has been identified as Ola Saramsamen, a dispatcher of public utility jeepney.” (MindaNews)