Gingoog City radio broadcaster gunned down, COPC says local media must unite

November 18, 2008

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

A radio broadcaster was shot dead early yesterday morning by an unidentified suspect in front of the gate of the Bukidnon State University in Gingoog City , Misamis Oriental.

In a statement, dxRS Radyo Natin said Aristeo Padrigao, their commentator for “Sayre ang Katilingban” (Know the Society), was shot on the face by a gunman at around 7:15 a.m. yesterday just after bringing his child to school.

The assailant, who was wearing a crash helmet, escaped after the attack. The motive of the killing is still unknown and media groups have condemned the killing.

Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) president Jerry Orcullo and Philippine National Police Press Corps X (PNP Press Corps-X) chairman Micheal Bustamante voiced alarm on how the killing is too close to home.

Former COPC president Uriel Quilinguing even commented that the incident will send a chilling effect on journalists in the region.

“We can no longer claim that not one has been slain for press freedom,” he told Gold Star Daily. The last incident in the region involved Joe Pantoja who cheated death and has now filed charges against the perpetrators.

Orcullo said Padrigao’s killing in Gingoog City at broad daylight only proves that for the media in this country, death is everywhere.

He pointed out that Gingoog City is perceived to be a very peaceful place but it did not spare the life of a radioman from the hands of the assassins.

“Though the killing is now in our doorsteps, we should not cower in fear. Instead, media should bond together in rage and anger as we demand for the speedy arrest of the culprits,” he said.

Orcullo, Bustamante and Quilinguing said they do not only condemn this latest barbaric act in the highest form and order but challenge authorities for the immediate arrest of the suspects and the early resolution of the case.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) reported that Padrigao, a hard-hitting commentator who regularly criticized corruption in his radio program, was the 54th journalist killed in the Philippines the past years. He was the seventh journalist murdered since January.

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Written by admin · Filed Under Gingoog City