Geneva, 23 October 2025: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, condemns the killing of Filipino scribe Noel Bellen Samar and demands justice for the bereaved family and media fraternity of the Philippines. Radio journalist Samar (54) was shot at by two unidentified gunmen as he was riding his motorcycle on the Maharlika Highway in the Guinobatan locality on Monday. He was rushed to the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where the broadcaster succumbed to injuries on 21 October.
Samar, who was associated with Kadunong Internet TV and 92.3 dwIZ radio station in Legazpi City, sustained four gunshot injuries on his chest and abdomen. Meanwhile, a number of Manila-based journo-bodies raised their voices over the murder and urged the concerned authorities to bring the people behind the attack to justice as early as possible.
“Noel Bellen Samar is the third journalist based in the Southeast Asian nation and 147th scribe to be killed globally to date this year. PEC has come to know that he was vocal against the administration in the Albay region of the Philippines and often commented sharply in his programs. We demand a thorough probe into the murder and punish the perpetrators under the law,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (pressemblem.ch), adding that the island nation earlier lost two journalists (namely Juan Johny Dayang and Erwin Labitad Segovia) to assailants since 1 January 2025.
