Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima issued a personal appeal on Thursday, Oct. 23 to President Marcos following the killing of Albay-based broadcaster Noel Bellen Samar.

"We stand in solidarity with the media community in Bicol and with journalists across the country in seeking justice for Noel Samar. His killing must not become just another statistic in the long list of slain journalists and unresolved cases involving media practitioners," De Lima said in a statement Thursday, two days after Samar passed away in the hospital.

"Nananawagan tayo sa administrasyon ni Marcos Jr.: Iparamdan naman nito hindi lang sa salita, kundi sa gawa, ang pagkondena sa ganitong karumal-dumal na krimen—sa pagpaslang sa mga kawani ng media na pagkitil din sa malayang pamamahayag," said the lady solon, a Bicol native.

(We call on the Marcos Jr. administration: Let it show not just in words, but in action, its condemnation of such heinous crimes—the killing of media workers, which is also the silencing of free expression.)

Samar 54, a hard-hitting blocktime commentator affiliated with Kadunong iTV and DWIZ in Legazpi City, was shot in the chest and abdomen by an unidentified gunman while driving his motorcycle along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Morera at 9:05 a.m. Monday.

"It is deeply enraging and alarming that another journalist has been killed in broad daylight. Malinaw na may mga hindi takot pumatay at magpapatay sa bansang ito. Talamak pa rin ang karahasan at panggigipit sa mga mamamahayag. Nagpapatuloy pa rin ang kawalan ng pananagutan," De Lima said.

(It is clear that there are people in this country who are not afraid to kill or have others killed. Violence and harassment against journalists remain rampant. The lack of accountability continues.)

The deputy minority leader said the government "cannot remain soft and complacent in the face of this continued culture of violence and impunity".

"Hangga’t nagpapatuloy ang panggigipit at karahasan sa mga mamamahayag, hangga’t hindi napapanagot ang mga saların, hangga’t kitang-kita ang kawalan ng political will para wakasan ang kawalan ng pananagutan, lalong lumalakas ang loob ng mga mamamatay-tao at mga gustong magpatahimik sa mga kritiko, tagapagsiwalat ng katotohanan at katiwalian, at mga tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao," she said.

(As long as harassment and violence against journalists persist, as long as perpetrators are not held accountable, as long as the lack of political will to end impunity is glaring, the killers and those who seek to silence critics, truth-tellers, whistleblowers, and human rights defenders will only grow bolder.)