Christopher Guarin

Christopher Guarin ( – January 5, 2012) was a Filipino journalist—an AM radio block timer show host and a local tabloid publisher and editor-in-chief—murdered in General Santos, Philippines. Guarin was the 150th Filipino journalist to have been killed since the democratic revolution of 1986.

Personal life Christopher Guarin was around 41 years old when he was killed. He was married to Lyn Guarin and the couple had a nine-year-old daughter. Guarin was interred in Holy Garden Matutum Memorial Park cemetery in on January 15, 2012. In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for city councilor.

Death

Christopher Guarin was attacked and killed on January 5, 2012. Earlier in the day, Guarin received a death threat and during his radio program, he read the threat aloud. The message read, "Do not leave the station, I will kill you." The hit men inflicted a minor injury on Guarin's wife during the attack. The police said the child was safe, unharmed but "traumatized."

Investigation Guarin himself had been a subject in the investigation of a rival newspaper's circulation manager in late 2011 but was cleared of any wrongdoing by police. After one year the case was still unsolved.

Context After Christopher Guarin's high-profile murder by a team of two hit men working together on motorcycle, police announced that they were stopping such motorcycles at checkpoints and would crack down on the practice by looking for violations. This followed 1,819 murders in 2010 and a rise of 2,089 in 2011. The next media worker or journalist killed in General Santos was Romel Palma, who was a driver for journalists at dxMC Bombo Radyo-Koronadal, and he was killed outside of a hospital on April 30, 2012.

Impact The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) pointed out that Christopher Guarin was the 150th journalist killed since 1986 and the 10th of those killed in General Santos. While the Philippines has been identified as the deadliest country for journalists and media workers, the heaviest burden has fallen on those from General Santos. Out of 150 journalists killed in the Philippines since the 1986 revolution, 24 of those were General Santos' journalists. This includes 14 journalists from the General Santos area who were killed at the Maguindanao massacre, Mindanao on November 23, 2009. The number of journalists killed in the Philippines had risen sharply as four were killed in 2010 and eight in 2011. )." A statement from the International Federation of Journalists "condemned the killing", and said, the "IFJ is deeply concerned that 2012 has begun with a continuation of increased attacks on media professionals that we saw in the Philippines in 2011". The organization further called upon President Benigno S. Aquino III, son of former president Corazon Aquino to keep his promise and take steps to end impunity. One year later, the local NUJP chapter of General Santos, Edwin Espejo said, "Today, we urge the Aquino government to give justice to Guarin's killing and rest of our slain colleagues who died in the line of duty. Only the arrest, prosecution and conviction of media murderers and their masterminds can erase the image of the country as one of the world's deadliest places for the working journalists."