(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-24 16:08

MANILA - A radio anchorman was shot dead Monday morning in southern Philippine city of Davao, adding to a long list of media fatalities in recent years in this archipelago.

According to local television network ABS-CBN, 51-year-old Ferdie Lintuan was driving a green Volkswagen outside the radio station when two motorcycle-riding gunmen approached the vehicle and shot him.

Police said the incident occurred at 9:50 am and Lintuan died after sustaining two gunshot wounds to the head.

The report cited Lintuan's colleague as saying that the slain radioman was a hard-hitting commentator who tackled different topics in his radio show.

The Manila-based National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Safety Office said at least 54 journalists had been killed since the turn of the 21st century. Most were killed for something related to their work, the online edition of Philippine Daily Inquirer said.

Lintuan, a widower with school-aged children, became the fifth journalist to be murdered in the Philippines this year, the paper said quoting media watchdogs' statistics.