Two suspects eyed in killing of Sultan Kudarat publisher

Police investigators are eyeing two suspects in the killing of a newspaper publisher in Sultan Kudarat as it remains uncertain if his death was work related.

The suspects have been identified but their names were withheld to avoid jeopardizing the probe into Monday’s murder of Hernani Pastolero, publisher and editor-in-chief of the weekly Lightning Courier, said Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police.

As to motive of the crime, he said a land dispute angle is the strongest among other possible motives related to work and personal matters.

On the other hand, Senior Supt. Lomala Gunting, director of the Shariff Kabunsuan police, said Pastolero was not known to be a hard-hitting journalist.

Like Pastolero’s daughter Eva Marie, his nephew Joel said his uncle never mentioned any threat to his life.

"He has no known enemies either," said Joel, a retired reporter for the defunct radio station dxCM in Shariff Kabunsuan.

At Malacañang, President Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye condemned the murder, adding: "We do not condone such attacks on journalists, especially if these relate to the curtailment of press freedom."

Meanwhile, international media groups urged the government to do more to find the killer of Pastolero.

"It is time the government put an end to the impunity enjoyed by those responsible by trying to identify them and bring them to justice," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

Pastolero, 64, was the first journalist slain in the country this year, and according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), it was the 50th death under the Arroyo administration.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed head of Task Force Usig Chief Superintendent Geary Barrias said that although the task force will continue the program initiated by Deputy Director General Avelino Razon, whom he replaced yesterday, assigning a specific police officer to attend to certain cases would surely improve the rate solution of the police force.

In Central Mindanao, Pastolero’s death was the third in five years.

Apart from owning Lightning Courier, Pastolero, a veteran mediaman of 30 years, is also a leader of a homeowner’s group whose previous president Zaldy Bayona was also gunned down by a suspected gun-for-hire.

On the other hand, text messages circulated Monday night that the brutal murder of Pastolero could be linked to his involvement in the recent activation of a "Christian vigilante organization." He was even said to have attended a meeting of its leaders in Midsayap, North Cotabato. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, John Unson, AP, Ramil Bajo, Cesar Ramirez, Artemio Dumlao, Mark Francisco, Eva Visperas