Two assailants on motorcycles shot Loreto and another
journalist, Richard Kho, in front of a convenience store at around 11 p.m. in
the Quezon City neighborhood of Manila, according to news
reports. Authorities said the journalists died from multiple gunshot wounds
and that police recovered several .45 caliber and 9-millimeter shells from the scene, the
reports said.
Both reporters were columnists for the Aksyon Ngayon (Action Now), a
weekly tabloid newspaper that had published only one issue a few weeks before
the attack. The publication focuses on local community issues, including corruption.
Ray Moreno, a friend of the journalists who was with them at
the time of the attack, told local journalists that the assailants opened fire
on them at close range and that he was able to survive the attack by pretending
he was dead, the reports said.
Soon after the killing, Loreto’s family members told Committer
for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a local journalists support group, that
they could not think of any other motive for the attack other than his column
for the paper.
Police said filed murder charges against two men who were
identified by witnesses, according to the Committer
for Media Freedom and Responsibility, a local journalists support group.
The two men remain at large.