The Philippines is the deadliest country for journalists in Asia, the annual report published by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders showed. RFS noted that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “cryptic but alarming comment” that journalists are not exempted from assassination “proved to be more than just talk in 2017.” Sixty-five journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2017, among them were 50 professional reporters, the lowest toll in 14 years. However, the downward trend is due at least in part to journalists giving up working in the world’s deadliest spots. Previously in April, RSF ranked the Philippines 127th in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, rising from last year’s 138.