Police identify attacker of radio broadcaster in Ilocos Norte

MANILA, Philippines - Police have identified the man who attacked a radio broadcaster in Ilocos Norte last Tuesday night along the national highway near the boundary of Bacarra town and Laoag City in Ilocos Norte.

Senior Superintendent Benito Estipona, Task Force Usig deputy chief, identified Leonardo Banaag Jr., alias Uno, as the alleged killer of Joselito Agustin, 37, anchorman of dzJC Aksyon Radyo-Laoag, sister station of dzRH of the Manila Broadcasting Co. Estipona said Banaag was identified by a companion of Agustin.

He said the motive has yet to be established, but investigators are looking into politics as one of the angles, since the victim used to criticize a local politician.

Estipona refused to name the politician pending further investigation.

He said a manhunt has been launched for Banaag after the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed murder and frustrated murder charges against him.

Task Force Usig said the killing of Agustin and another radio broadcaster, Desiderio Camangyan from Davao Oriental, were the only incidents it has handled this year.

Camangyan, 52, anchorman of Sunrise FM radio in Mati, Davao Oriental, was the 101st journalist killed during the administration of President Arroyo.

Chief Inspector Henry Libay of Task Force Usig said they did not handle two other incidents, initially reported to be an attack on media practitioners, since the motive in one of the cases was a love triangle.

“In the second incident, it turned out that the victim was a jeepney driver and not a legitimate media practitioner,” he said.

“Officially, only the death of Agustin and Camangyan are being investigated by Task Force Usig.”

Last Jan. 7, Eugene Paet, a reporter of Commando Radio in Vigan City, was shot and wounded in Barangay Bulag Centro in Bantay town.

An international organization tagged the Philippines as the most dangerous place for journalists, particularly after the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province last Nov. 23, of whom at least 30 were journalists.

The slain journalists were covering the filing of documents for the gubernatorial bid of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Mangudadatu when they were abducted and killed.

Mangudadatu is the governor-elect of Maguindanao. 

Media groups denounce killings

The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Pangasinan chapter and Pangasinan Press Club have joined hands in condemning the killings of radio broadcasters Agustin of dzJC in Laoag and Desiderio Camangyan of Sunrise FM radio in Davao Oriental.

Cris Estolas, vice president of KBP Pangasinan chapter, yesterday said that “killing or intimidating media now is easier because they (perpetrators) see the Maguindanao massacre as an example that it’s simple to do it and justice is hard to get.”

Estolas, also the station manager of Bombo Radyo Dagupan, said the reason the killing of journalists persists is because justice has not been served in the Maguindanao massacre.

“Because of the unresolved Maguindanao massacre, there is an impression that it is easy to kill mediamen,” he said.

He said this is now the challenge to the incoming administration of president-elect Benigno Aquino III.

Estolas was joined by KBP Pangasinan chapter president Bernie Errasquin and Allan Sison, president of Pangasinan Press Club, in calling on authorities to solve murders of mediamen.

 “This is becoming too frequent but we will not stop asking for justice,” Sison said.

He said arming mediamen is not the answer to the problem but “changing their style of commenting against certain officials.”

“We should be responsible and be extra cautious in our news reports and commentaries,” both Sison and Errasquin said.

A total of 139 journalists and media workers have been killed since 1986, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Eva Visperas, Cesar Ramirez