Alex Balcoba, Sr. ( – 27 May 2016) was a Filipino crime journalist for Brigada Mass Media Corporation Weekly tabloid in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines, and was also known as the deputy director at the Manila Police District Press Corp. He was killed outside a watch repair shop that his family owns in Quiapo which allegedly took place due to a personal or business-related dispute. He was one of the many journalist killed in the Philippines in 2016. The case gained international attention after Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was elected president. Personal life Balcoba, a 55-year-old reporter, was born in the Philippines and was living in Quiapo, Manila with his wife, Florabella Balcoba who is a teacher. Alex and Florabella had owned a watch repair shop together with the help of their son. Balcoba's remains were cremated on May 29, 2016, in Caloocan. Career Balcoba was a veteran reporter who worked to cover local news about crime and police brutality. He had been working as a journalist since the 1990s. Balcoba was also known for being the district deputy at the Manila police district, this is what helped get him into reporting the local crime for Brigada Mass Media Corporation. The Philippines is known for its forthright press and is one of the worst countries in terms of protection for journalists. Death Balcoba was shot in the head by two armed gunmen outside his family's watch repair store in Quiapo, Manila around 7:00 on Friday, May 24, 2016. He was on the phone when the armed gunmen who were on a motorcycle drove by and shot while his friends and family were watching. A columnist says that others are suspecting that the gunman who shot Balcoba was a professional because it took him only one deadly shot to take out Balcoba. Several fellow journalist rushed Balcoba to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Balcoba's son told reporters that he had received numerous death threats due to his work in crime journalism, but they could not narrow it down because of the number of enemies he had. There were a few suspects questioned, but they had no luck. The investigation is still ongoing today with no leads on who the gunman was or who the gunman's companion was that had driven the getaway motorcycle. Police in Manila are working to look further into the different death threats that Balcoba had received.