MANILA (Updated) -- Armed men on a motorcycle shot dead a former journalist and his brother Thursday night, August 3, in San Juan City, Metro Manila.
Michael D. Marasigan, a former editor of BusinessWorld, died on the spot from multiple gunshots to his chest and neck while his brother Christopher was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.
The attack on Marasigan shocked colleagues in the media.
In a statement, the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) condemned the senseless killing of Marasigan and urged the police to "leave no stones unturned and follow all the leads even if they end up on the doorsteps of the powerful and mighty."
"Their violent murders aren't just signs of the times but an indictment of the security situation in the country. If a person who has left his comfort zone to help the government through non-controversial work with the Department of Finance (DOF) could be killed so brazenly, how could anyone feel safe?" the group stated.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, for whom Marasigan worked as communications consultant, called on law enforcers to find and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law the perpetrators behind the killing.
"I have known Mike for over 30 years. I and his peers held him in very high regard for his skills and thorough professionalism," he added.
The Finance chief said Marasigan, who always had a kind word to everyone he meets," was a highly respected journalist and public relations man."
"As my communications consultant, he was always prompt, thorough and very good at what he did, which was to assist the DOF in relaying its key messages and programs to the public," Dominguez said.
SunStar Network Exchange (Sunnex) Editor-in-Chief Nini Cabaero, one of those who knew Marasigan, said “Mike was a good friend.”
“He was my mentor and he helped shape the beginnings of what is today the digital participation of most of the country’s community newspapers, including SunStar,” she said.
Cabaero worked with Marasigan in 1999, before she joined Sunnex, in the Globalisation of Island Community Newspapers project of the Philippine Press Institute and Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). The project introduced community newspapers to the Internet.
Sunnex is the department that runs www.sunstar.com.ph that gathers news and information from community publications of the SunStar network.
Cabaero said she is joining the clamor for justice for Marasigan and his brother, Christopher, who died with him.
Marasigan pioneered digital journalism as BusinessWorld's first online editor. He was also a former independent video producer at Living Asia Channel and creator of Ourphilippines.tv. He worked as a public relations professional after leaving the newspaper business. (SunStar Philippines with report from PNA)