Julie Alipala. Photo from her Facebook account 

MANILA — Julie Alipala, a longtime Zamboanga-based reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer who covered wars, conflicts, and peace efforts in Mindanao, died early Thursday morning, her outlet said. She was 58.

The Inquirer said Alipala was diagnosed with endometrial cancer with serous carcinoma in late 2024. While she was undergoing post-surgery treatment, Alipala had been confined to a hospital for breathing difficulties, it said.

Alipala covered the Zamboanga, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi areas and "was no stranger to covering conflict and its effects on the communities there," the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a statement.

Alipala served as a longtime member of the NUJP national directorate.

As the journalists' group mourned her passing, it remembered Alipala for being "an outspoken defender of press freedom" who "did not shy away from covering difficult stories, sometimes at the risk of her own safety both online and offline."

In 2018 Alipala was harassed online for her story "on the deaths of seven farmers in Sulu accused of being members of the Abu Sayyaf Group but whom relatives said were only out to pick fruits."

Alipala, the NUJP added, "made significant contributions to promoting journalists' welfare and safety." She served as an instructor for numerous training sessions and workshops across the country, it said.

Some media groups are organizing a memorial service for Alipala. Details will be announced later, according to the Movement for the Safety and Welfare of Women Journalists (We-Move) and the Asian Center for Journalism.