The municipal administrator of Pilar, Capiz, a former journalist, John Heredia was shot dead on Sunday in Barangay Lawa-an in Roxas City.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Heredia, the former head of the NUJP’s Capiz chapter, was killed by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Heredia was declared dead on arrival when he was taken to Capiz Doctors Hospital.

“While Heredia was no longer in the media when he was killed, his death is a symptom of the culture of impunity in the Philippines,” the NUJP said in a statement.

In a local media interview, his wife, lawyer Criselda Azarcon-Heredia, who was also ambushed in September 2019, said she was awaiting the results of the police investigation into the killing.

The National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) has also condemned Heredia’s death and demanded an investigation into the incident. Arnet Paguirigan