A Philippine journalist was in critical condition after he was shot by a bodyguard of Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao early Sunday in the southern Philippine city of General Santos, local media reported.

Jonathan Abayon, 27, who works for GMA radio in General Santos,was shot in the head allegedly by a certain William Pael, a bodyguard of Pacquiao apparently after an argument with the bodyguard in a car, the ABS-CBN news channel reported.

Pacquiao has said the incident had nothing to do with him and he was not with the bodyguard at that time.

Investigators said it was not clear if the attack was related to Abayon's work as a journalist, adding that they were searching for the suspected gunman, who fled after the attack.

Abayon became the sixth journalist attacked in the past eight days. Two of them were killed in ambushes separately in the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte and Batangas. While the three others were attacked in the central city of Cebu Friday,and survived the attack after returning fire.

On Friday, the Philippine National Police announced that it will allow journalists under threat to carry firearms due to the increasing ambushes against journalists.

Police records showed seven journalists died in ambush last year in the Philippines.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has offered a 1 million-peso (about 17,900 US dollars) bounty for tips leading to the arrest of suspects in the killing of each journalist in the Philippines in the past five years.

Source: Xinhua