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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In continuing pursuit on the progress of the Abaca Industry, the DAR-IFAD/NMCIREMP (Northern Mindanao Community Initiatives and Resource Management Project) in cooperation with the Local Government Unit of Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, sponsored recently the “Panaghukot 2008 Caraga Abaca Stakeholders’ Summit at Tree Park Marihatag, Surigao del Sur.

With the theme, Panaghukot the sessions in the summit tackled issues concerning the present situation of the abaca industry in the country, and some important things to consider in Abaca Management. This is already the 2^nd abaca summit conducted after the first abaca summit which was held in Misamis Oriental last year. Aim of the said summit also is to bring front the famous Abaca Golden Fiber of Marihatag Surigao del Sur, which is primarily the source of abaca production in the country.

“People can have opportunities for livelihood assistance, and can even generate their own income from abaca utilization because units are just there to facilitate, and its up to the people on how they would handle it,” said DAR Region 13 Director Engr. Felix B. Aguhob.

Through this summit, commitment building among abaca stakeholders’ will nonetheless be of big help since it will be a means for them to increase their awareness and skills on abaca production. This would lead the stakeholders’ to formulate plans on the progress of the abaca industry.

The participants of the summit were from Marihatag Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, specifically from Las Nieves, Kitcharao, Jabonga, and Santiago. The event was made possible with the support from the Department of Trade and Indsutry (DTI), Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA), and the Northern Mindanao State Institute of Science and Technology (NORMISIST).

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