MANILA, Philippines – A radio broadcaster was shot dead in the Philippines on Tuesday (May 8th), police said, becoming the fourth journalist slain this year in a country deemed by rights monitors as one of the most dangerous for the media.

Gunmen attacked Nestor Libaton, an anchor for DXHM radio in the southern city of Mati, while he was riding a motorcycle on a local highway, regional police commander Chief Superintendent Jaime Morante said, according to AFP.

Police said it was too early to determine the motive of the attack.

Nestor Burgos, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, told AFP that Libaton's colleagues said he may have been killed because of his work, although details were not immediately available.

Libaton, whose age was not provided by police, was the fourth journalist murdered in the Philippines this year, and the 153rd media fatality since Philippine democracy was restored in 1986 from military rule, Burgos said.