Bangkok, May 2, 2025—Philippine authorities must launch a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of veteran journalist and publisher Juan “Johnny” Dayang, who was shot dead in his home on Tuesday evening, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
“The fatal shooting of Juan Dayang, one of the Philippines’ most prominent news publishers, shows that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government hasn’t done enough to stop the killers of journalists,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Authorities must leave no stone unturned in identifying his killers, uncovering their motive, and bringing them to justice.”
Dayang was the publisher of the local Philippines Graphic magazine in the 1990s and of the now defunct Headline Manila daily newspaper and headed the Publishers Association of the Philippines Incorporated for two decades.
On April 29, Dayang was watching television in Kalibo, capital of central Aklan Province, when three shots were fired through his window by an assailant in a black jacket and full-face helmet, who escaped on a motorcycle, possibly with an accomplice, according to news reports. Dayang was rushed to a local hospital but was declared dead on arrival from gunshot wounds to the neck and back, those sources said.
Western Visayas region police chief Brigadier General Jack Wanky said police had identified a person of interest but could not yet confirm a motive and were reviewing CCTV footage, The Philippine Star reported.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security, a state body tasked with investigating media murders, described the attack as a “heinous act” and said it was coordinating with “all concerned agencies” to resolve the case.
Dayang also served as president of the Manila Overseas Press Club and was mayor of Kalibo soon after the country’s 1986 People Power Revolution, news reports said.
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.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.
CPJ Staff | Radio Free (2025-05-02T16:24:17+00:00) Veteran publisher Juan Dayang shot and killed in the Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/05/02/veteran-publisher-juan-dayang-shot-and-killed-in-the-philippines/
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