Radio broadcaster Dindo Generoso was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines on Thursday morning.

Generoso, 67, was driving his car on his way to host his radio program on dyEM 96.7 Bai Radio when he was attacked. He died on the spot.

If the killing is work-related, Generoso would be the 14th journalist to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office in 2016, and the 187th since 1986.

Salvador Panelo, Duterte's spokesman, said in a news conference that the president has directed authorities to investigate the incident and prosecute the people behind the deadly attack.

According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Generoso was the second journalist killed in Dumaguete City since radio broadcaster Edmund Sestoso was shot by unidentified gunmen in April 2018.

The Philippines is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, according to Human Rights Watch.

For the third year in a row, the Philippines was ranked fifth among the countries with the worst record of prosecuting killers of journalists, according to New York-based watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).