Still no motive in murder of Aurora journalist

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Following the arrest of one of the principal suspects in the slaying of Aurora community journalist Philip Agustin, the motive still eluded police investigators.

"Task Force Agustin" head Senior Superintendent Perfecto Palad said police investigators, including the National Bureau of the Investigation (NBI), are still clueless on the motive of the killing.

Palad said the arrest of Rey Morete last Saturday was not enough to crack the case open on the motive behind the killing of Agustin.

He said Morete was not able to provide investigators enough information on the possible motive and who might be behind the killing.

Morete was apprehended by police and NBI agents while taking refuge at a relative’s house in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija.

Police said Morete later admitted to killing Agustin, publisher and editor of the Starline Times Recorder, last Tuesday.

Agustin was shot at his residence in Barangay Paltic in Dingalan, Aurora by three men.

Morete, however, claimed it was his cousin, Boyet Morete, who shot Agustin through a window. He also tagged his companion Anual Alday in the murder.

He reportedly confessed that the plot to kill Agustin was hatched at his house in Dingalan.

"Rey did not seem to even think that he was a major participant in the crime. He was sleeping in a house of a relative in Cabanatuan when government agents pounced on him," Palad said.

Palad said Rey had claimed being contacted by Boyet, hours before the killing.

"He (Rey) said he was told by Boyet to track down the exact location of ‘Balbas’ (Beard) which was how Boyet referred to Agustin," he said.

Palad said that at Boyet’s house, Rey was told by his cousin they would finish off Agustin.

"Tatapusin namin siya (We will finish him off)," Rey quoted his cousin as telling him.

While Boyet was renting an apartment just across Agustin’s house, he still requested Rey to act as a "spotter" and pinpoint the victim’s exact whereabouts. Rey went off to look for Agustin and spotted him in the dining room.

Aurora police director Senior Superintendent Amador Pabustan said their investigation showed Boyet and Alday were waiting at a videoke bar when Rey allegedly sent a text message to them pinpointing Agustin’s exact location. Agustin was later shot twice in the head and body.

Pabustan pointed out that Boyet belonged to a notorious gun-for-hire syndicate. He added the trio probably carried out the hit against Agustin on orders from a mastermind.

Pabustan said the mastermind behind the killing will be unmasked once Boyet is taken into custody. "We will know the mastermind if he (Boyet) is arrested," he said.

Police have ruled out the communist New People’s Army (NPA) behind the killing with the identification of the suspects.

Morete’s arrest Saturday open up several questions and raised a few eyebrows in Dingalan. Pabustan said the identities of the suspects has triggered fears of reprisal since Morete belonged to a "highly notorious (crime) group."

Pabustan pointed out that Boyet had been on the town’s wanted list of most notorious criminals.

Boyet Morete is also wanted for the killing of an Army trooper on March 12, 2003 and for the murder of a policeman in Casiguran, Quezon in 1993.

Case investigators noted the allegations aired by Agustin’s family in articles published in his local newspaper might have led to his killing.

Agustin’s paper published a report calling on Dingalan town Mayor Jaime Ylarde to come clean over allegedly missing government funds.

Ylarde has denied any involvement in the killing, though he admitted knowing the suspects because they are residents of the town.

Investigators also denied reports that Rey exonerated Ylarde of possible involvement in the killing.

Agustin was the fifth provincial journalist killed this year. Two weeks ago, radio commentator Klein Cantoneros was shot dead in Dipolog City.

Along with Bangladesh, the Philippines was tagged as one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists last year, the Paris-based industry watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a report last week.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has described the Philippines as the "most murderous" place for reporters in the world. Lawmakers said the killings have reached "crisis" proportions.

‘Wild, Wild West’

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said there is no evidence to support suggestions that journalists are being targeted systematically.

The PNP offered to provide security to media practitioners who are "under threat," following a series of attacks that have claimed the lives of 17 journalists in the past 17 months.

The authorities also offered to issue permits allowing these journalists to carry their own firearms outside of their homes.

Malacañang said civilians who are under "verified threats" would be allowed to carry firearms.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the arrangement would strictly be on a case-to-case basis. At the moment, Bunye said the government sees journalists mainly as the sector that is under great risk.

"As long as the threat is credible and verified and he or she complies with all the requirements, including neuro-psychological tests and training, then they can be issued PTCs (permits to carry)," he said.

Bunye, however, stressed that carrying firearms outside one’s residence may also contribute greatly to other risks: "One of the contributing factors to violence (and the killings of journalists) is the indiscriminate carrying of firearms outside one’s residence."

He admitted that the issuance of PTCs to individuals at risk will draw fire from gun ban advocates, as the issue of arming oneself has been a raging debate in the United States for decades.

Opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the idea of arming journalists would only contribute to the proliferation of firearms.

He said the approach of arming journalists would turn the country into a "Wild, Wild West."

Pimentel said the government and the law enforcement agencies should not cover up their shortcomings in solving the spate of killings involving media practitioners. — With Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero