MANILA - Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded a newspaper reporter in the central Philippines Friday, days after another journalist was murdered, local police said.

Antonio Castillo, 45, a reporter on local tabloid "Bigwasan" (Punch), was wounded in the back and right thigh as he rode his motorcycle along a highway in Masbate, said police chief Senior Inspector Aurora Moran.

Despite his injuries Castillo was able to drive to a nearby village where he sought refuge with local residents, the policeman said.

The victim later said he knew the identities of his attackers, Moran said without elaborating, but it was not clear if the shooting was related to his job.

The attack comes after broadcast journalist Crispin Perez was shot and stabbed to death in the central island of Mindoro on Tuesday in what local authorities said was a "politically motivated" attack.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists earlier this year said the Philippines was among several countries where media personnel are murdered with impunity.