Dizon slay marks first anniversary

It was exactly a year ago today when The Freeman photojournalist Allan Dizon was gunned down at the North Reclamation Area.

When the news about the incident broke out, Dizon was still fighting for his life at the Cebu City Medical Center. Practically all the media people were watching and praying that he would make it.

But with two gunshot wounds, one in the back and one below his right ear, and a huge amount of blood lost, Dizon eventually expired. He was 30.

Dizon was the first member of the media in Cebu to be killed. According to witnesses, the photographer was standing at the corner of Soriano and Kaohsiung Streets near SM City Cebu when a man approached and shot him. The gunman sped off together with another man onboard a motorcycle.

Witnesses said Dizon tried to flee when he saw the approaching gunman. The assailant, however, gave chase and fired two shots at him.

Dizon, still conscious, was left lying on the pavement as taxicabs refused to bring him to the hospital. It was not until witnesses stopped a police car that he was brought to CCMC, where he expired two hours later.

Everyone in newsroom was in tears and could barely continue the work upon learning that a colleague was just killed. No one, not even the authorities, yet knew the motive of the killing.

Dizon's fate was left to the hands of God, and to the court of law. Over a week later, he was laid to rest at the Queen City Gardens.

Dizon left behind three children - Charmae Ann, Lyne Chan and Vanessa Mae - from his wife Nimfa. He also has a daughter, Kyla, with his erstwhile partner Amelina.

Local dailies made a countdown since his death to intensify the hunt of the suspect. On December 6, police arrested Edgar Belandres, the main suspect in the killing.

A marathon trial of the murder case was then set. The case kicked off in early February at the sala of Regional Trial Court Branch 5 presiding judge Ireneo Gako.

Two witnesses, Justiniano Doller and Epifanio Barcuma, tagged Belandres as the one who shot Dizon on that fateful evening.

The suspect is now detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center, and is waiting for his fate to be decided by the court. Gako has set the promulgation of the case on December 20.

As Dizon is now resting in peace, his case will soon come to a close, hopefully, with a triumphant ending. - Liv G. Campo