A journalist was shot dead Monday in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato City, said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

The victim, Hernani Pastolero, was the editor in chief of a local weekly newspaper in Cotabato City. He was shot twice by a lone gunman when he was doing exercise in his courtyard.

Pastolero was the 49th journalist to have been slain since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed presidency in 2001, said NUJP.

Source: Xinhua