Former journalist shot dead

A FORMER correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer was shot dead noontime today, April 13, 2015, in Batangas City.

The Inquirer reported that a motorcycle-riding gunman shot dead Melinda “Mei” Magsino-Lubis, 41, in the village of Balagtas. She died on the spot with a gunshot wound to the head.

Click on the photo to read the full article on the Inquirer website.

PHOTO from Mei Magsino’s Facebook page

Magsino also wrote an article for the PCI on February 2007 about Batangas Governor Armando Sanchez who was alleged then to be a major operator of an illegal numbers game in his province.

WHETHER OR not he is or once was a jueteng lord as many people seem to be believe, it can at least be said that Batangas Governor Armando Sanchez has been enjoying the luck of the draw for the past few years. In 2001, he was elected mayor of Sto. Tomas town, which leaped from being a fifth-class municipality to first-class during his term. In 2004, he emerged winner in a field of seven candidates for governor, despite the fact that he was a relative unknown who was up against big-name and more experienced politicos. In 2006, he narrowly escaped death (although two of his aides were killed) when a planted bomb blew up his Humvee, which he was riding at the time.

Click on photo to read Magsino’s report on our iReport magazine online version.

In 2005, Magsino became the subject of a PCIJ report “Reporting Under the Gun,” which detailed how she fled Batangas after receiving a tip from police sources that two prisoners were released and were given specific orders to kill her.

That same night, Magsino-Lubis said goodbye to her family and left the farm, her home for only nine months, and Batangas, where she has lived for all her 30 years. “Doon ako tinubuan ng sungay (That’s where I grew horns),” Magsino-Lubis says of her province. “But I did not have a choice (other than to leave).” In her backpack, she tucked five tops, three pairs of jeans, six pairs of underwear, four pairs of socks, documents, photographs, notepads, pens, and about P22,000 in cash. In her bones ran a cold, steady stream of fear.

Click here to read in full “Reporting Under the Gun.”