Arnulfo Villanueva

New York, March 28, 2005—In a brazen attack last Thursday, a gunman walked into columnist Marlene Garcia-Esperat's house in the city of Tacurong, and shot her in front of her family. Garcia-Esperat died instantly from the single bullet wound to her head, police told reporters. The gunman and his accomplice escaped from the scene on a motorcycle.

An anti-graft columnist for the newspaper the Midland Review in the southern island of Mindanao, Garcia-Esperat, 45, was under police protection as result of recent death threats. According to local news reports, she let her two guards leave early for the Easter holidays on Thursday morning.

New York, March 2, 2005—A local newspaper columnist was found shot dead on a road in the town of Naic, Cavite Province, just south of Manila. A local village official found the body of Arnulfo Villanueva, 43, a columnist for the community paper Asian Star Express Balita, on the night of February 28, according to the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).

Villanueva has criticized local officials in connection with illegal gambling, according to CMFR, but police have not yet determined a motive. The Committee to Protect Journalists is also investigating whether the killing was tied to his journalistic work.

FEBRUARY 28, 2005
Posted: March 28, 2005

Arnulfo Villanueva, Asian Star Express Balita
KILLED—UNCONFIRMED

Villanueva, 43, a columnist for the community newspaper, was found shot dead on a road in the town of Naic, Cavite Province, just south of Manila. A local village official found his body on the night of February 28, according to the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR).