Senior Radio Journalist Shot by Unidentified Gunman in Philippines, Dies in Hospital
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| 54-year-old journalist Noel Bellen Samar worked for the online radio station Kadunong ITV and DWIZ radio station. |
Philippines: Journalist Noel Bellen Samar, who worked for online radio station Kadunong ITV and DWIZ radio station, died in a hospital on October 21. He was shot on the morning of October 20, 2025.
The 54-year-old journalist was attacked while driving on the Maharlika Highway in Guinobatan, a municipality in the central Albay province of the Bicol region.
Samar was rushed to the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center in critical condition but died the following day. Noel Bellen Samar died from serious gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), the state body appointed to oversee media security, confirmed that he was hit by four bullets from a .45-caliber pistol. In a statement, PTFOMS condemned the "brazen attack" and announced the formation of a special task force to investigate the journalist's murder.
"We assure the public that a thorough investigation is actively underway to unravel the circumstances surrounding this incident," National Press Club Director and former journalist Joe Torres said in an interview on Wednesday. The Special Investigation Task Force is working with the Philippine National Police to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Guinobatan police have also launched a manhunt to apprehend the killer and are coordinating with nearby municipal police stations to set up checkpoints to apprehend the gunman who fled the scene.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have urged Philippine authorities to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into the murder of journalist Noel Belen Samar.
PAMAMARIL SA MEDIA PRACTITIONER SA ALBAY
— News5 (@News5PH) October 20, 2025
Sugatan ang isang media practitioner matapos barilin sa Maharlika Highway sa Brgy. Morera, Guinobatan, Albay ngayong Lunes, Oct. 20.
Kinilala ang biktima bilang si Noel Bellen Samar, 54 taong gulang, at konektado sa Kadunong ITV at radio… pic.twitter.com/h7RM3u704i
RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Cedric Alviani said in a statement, "The brutal murder of Filipino radio journalist Noel Belen Samar must not go unpunished. We urge the Philippine Department of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation and swiftly identify both the perpetrators and any possible masterminds behind this heinous crime. Given the persistent violence targeting journalists in the Philippines, it is vital that investigators fully consider his professional activities as a potential motive for the attack."
“Authorities must leave no stone unturned in identifying, capturing, and prosecuting the perpetrators behind the shooting of journalist Noel Belen Samar,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Until President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration demonstrates that it is serious about ending impunity, these types of wanton attacks on journalists will persist.”
The Philippines ranked ninth in CPJ’s latest Impunity Index, a global ranking of countries where killers of journalists are most likely to go scot-free. The country has appeared on the index every year since it was first launched in 2008.
