Radio anchor survives ambush

MANILA, Philippines - A radio anchor and reporter survived an ambush staged by two still unidentified men in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday.

The attack against Michael James Licuanan, also known as James Dacoycoy, and a reporter and anchor of Bombo Radyo Cagayan de Oro’s “Zona Libre” commentary program, took place on the eve of the launching of an international movement to end the killings of journalists.

Cagayan de Oro City Police Office director Senior Superintendent Gerardo Rosales said the ambush took place at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday in Barangay 30, while the victim was on his way home on his motorcycle.

Rosales said the attackers – two men armed with a .45 caliber pistol also onboard a motorcycle – conducted surveillance on the victim and tailed him until they had the chance to shoot him.

Rosales believed that Licuanan’s shooting was work related and possibly connected to the illegal drugs that he was hitting hard in his commentaries.

“We have installed checkpoints in all of the city’s exit points and we also have the composite sketch of the suspect who went to the radio station prior to the shooting. Our Scene of the Crime Operatives have also investigated the crime scene,” he said.

According to investigators, the assailants fired two shots at Licuanan but the first shot missed him, causing him to fall from his motorcycle.

The suspects again fired, hitting the victim in the left buttock. The bullet exited through Licuanan’s stomach.

Despite his injury, Licuanan managed to run to a nearby fire station and ask for help. Policemen were later able to recover two .45 caliber empty shells at the scene.

Celso Maldecir, Bombo Radyo Cagayan de Oro City station manager, said Licuanan had been commenting and reporting on the arrest of one Sammy Yusop by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents last Nov. 22, at the parking lot of a mall in the city.

Drug enforcement agents were able to seize 1.5 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) from Yusop with an estimated street value of about P20 million.

His colleagues, who asked not to be named, said he had received anonymous death threats by telephone two weeks ago for speaking out against the illegal drug trade and other forms of corruption in the city.

Rosales said police were investigating whether the attack was work-related.

The foiled assassination on Licuanan happened the day after the nation commemorated the second anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre.

Nov. 23 was designated worldwide as the International Day to End Impunity because the Ampatuan massacre, where 32 journalists and media workers were killed along with 26 other civilians, was the deadliest day in the history of journalism.

NUJP wants governor sanctioned

Meanwhile, National Union of Journalists (NUJP) secretary-general Rowena Paraan deplored the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) apparent inaction on the case of broadcaster Jerome Tabanganay, who was reportedly assaulted last June by their provincial governor while airing his program.

“The DILG failed to respond to Tabanganay’s complaint, and if found meritorious, sanction the respondent Gov. Jocel Baac,” she said.

Paraan, in a radio interview, chided the DILG for apparently bypassing the case in several instances, even upon summons made by the Malacañang

Communications Group.

Baac reportedly entered the government station Radyo ng Bayan in his turf in Tabuk City, Kalinga and manhandled Tabanganay while he was on air in the announcer’s booth. The assault was caught on camera and showed the governor shoving the microphone against the broadcaster’s mouth.

Ironically, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was guest speaker during the commemoration rites for the Maguindanao massacre victims where he exhorted media practitioners to continue waging their advocacy for truth and justice.

“The DILG could not comment on the real score on the status of Tabanganay’s case and this is a bad precedent, making abusive officials get away with their aggression against the press,” Paraan said.

Media and rights groups say the Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists, with six media workers killed this year alone.

A total of 147 journalists have been killed in the country since 1986, according to NUJP. – Raymund Catindig