Editor’s note: On October 21, Noel Bellen Samar died after surgery for gunshot wounds. The headline and contents of this alert have been updated to reflect his killing.
Bangkok, October 20, 2025—Philippine authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Noel Bellen Samar, identify and arrest those responsible, and ensure they are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Samar, 54, a radio reporter with the local outlets Kadunong ITV and DWIZ, was shot on Monday morning while traveling on the Maharlika Highway in Guinobatan, a municipality in the Bicol region’s central Albay province, according to multiple news reports.
He sustained four gunshot wounds from a .45-caliber pistol and died on October 21 after surgery at Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center, confirmed the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), a state body tasked with investigating media murders.
“Authorities must leave no stone unturned in identifying, capturing, and prosecuting the perpetrators behind the shooting of journalist Noel Bellen Samar,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Until President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration demonstrates that it is serious about ending impunity, these types of wanton attacks on journalists will persist.”
Guinobatan police said they had launched a manhunt and were coordinating with nearby municipal police stations to set up checkpoints to capture the gunman, who fled the crime scene. The PTFOMS condemned the “brazen attack” in a statement, adding it had deployed a team to “ensure a thorough, impartial, and swift investigation.”
The Philippines ranked ninth on CPJ’s most recent Impunity Index, a global ranking of countries where journalists’ murderers are most likely to go free. The country has appeared on the index every year since it was first launched in 2008.