Cabanatuan radio anchor shot dead

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – A radio anchor was shot dead by a lone gunman here yesterday.

Police said Julius Caezar Cauzo, 52, of Barangay Sibul, Talavera, was shot dead by a lone gunman who fired at close range while the victim was riding his motorcycle on his way to work.

Cauzo was news anchor of dwJJ and executive vice president of the Nueva Ecija Press Club Inc.

He was on a motorcycle in Barangay Aduas Norte when the gunman, riding on another motorcycle, overtook and shot the victim at close range.

Police said Cauzo died upon arrival at the Good Samaritan Hospital from three gunshot wounds in the body.

City police chief Superintendent Eli Depra said they have yet to establish the motive behind the killing.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao ordered the Special Investigation Task Force to investigate the killing of Cauzo.

Depra said he personally knew Cauzo, but could not say what the the motive for the murder could be.

“Cauzo had told me about some death threats he been receiving but he did not take it seriously, as he believed it was part of the job. Cauzo had been critical of graft and corruption in the city and the upcoming plebiscite,” Depra said.

His colleague at dwJJ radio station Elena Quijano also said Cauzo had received death threats but it was unclear why.

Police said that while the motive was not yet known, Cauzo was outspoken on sensitive issues in local politics and criticized various politicians on his radio show.

Cauzo had also criticized corruption in the region, although it was unclear immediately as to why he was murdered, said Nestor Burgos, chairman of the media watchdog National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility says if his death was found to be work-related, Cauzo would be the fourth journalist killed in the Philippines this year.

Cauzo had reportedly been locked in a word war with broadcasters of the rival TV station TV 48 over the highly urbanized city being pushed by the city government but being opposed by the camp of Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali.

The Commission on Elections has set on Dec. 1 the plebiscite to ratify Presidential Proclamation 418 issued last July 4 by President Aquino converting Cabanatuan into a highly urbanized city.

Malacañang condemned the killing of Cauzo, reportedly the 13th journalist murdered in the more than two years of Aquino’s administration.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms what happened to this radio personality. The police should now identify the gunman. They should hunt down the gunman,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a news briefing at Malacañang.

Lacierda said the police are “looking at the motives of this particular killing, whether it’s personal or work-related. So those things will be identified.”

“Certainly, we condemn all acts of violence against media personalities and we said that before. But in our country there’s a unique situation where a lot of the killings have been either personal or work-related,” he said.

“And in every instance, we try to sift through the motivations of each killing and some of them are work-related, some of them are personal.”

Among the media personalities killed since the Aquino administration took office in June 2010 were Jose Daguio in Kalinga province (July 3, 2010), Christopher Guarin in General Santos City (Jan. 5, 2011), Miguel Belen of dwEB FM in Camarines Sur (July 9, 2010).;

Edilberto Cruz of Salida tabloid in Nueva Ecija (Aug. 1, 2010), Edison Falmeniana Sr. of Mindanao Inquirer in Zamboanga del Sur (Dec. 10, 2010), Dr. Gerry Ortega of Puerto Princesa, Palawan (Jan. 24, 2011);

Cirilo Gallardo of dwWW FM in Abra (Feb. 1, 2011), Len Flores Somera of dzME in Manila (March 24, 2011), Romeo Olea of dwEB-FM in Bicol (June 13, 2011), Neil Aranga Jimena of dyRP Iloilo and dyAG in Cadiz City (Aug. 22, 2011);

Datu Roy Quijada Gallego, a radio commentator in Caraga Region (Oct. 14, 2011) and Alfredo Velarde Jr. of Brigada News in General Santos City (Nov. 11, 2011).

More than 150 reporters have been killed since 1986, including 32 in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in what was described as the single worst media killing in the world.

As this developed, a ramp model and talent of ABS-CBN was snatched and found dead in Quezon City yesterday.

Pasay City police chief Superintendent Samuel Turla said the victim, Julie Ann Rodellas, 22, was earlier snatched by unidentified men in front of World Trade Center along Buendia in Pasay City Tuesday midnight.

Rodellas, a resident of Bagong Lipunan St., Las Piñas City, was found along 18th Avenue in Cubao yesterday.

Police said the victim went together with a friend to SM Mall of Asia until late Tuesday evening. The two proceeded to Wensha Spa along Buendia and later to the nearby World Trade Center.

Upon alighting from the taxi, Rodellas was forced by two men into an SUV which sped toward Macapagal Avenue. The day after, the victim was found lifeless along 18th Avenue in Cubao.

Witnesses said they saw a Mitsubishi Montero stop in front of a house and heard three successive shots inside before seeing a woman being dumped out of the vehicle.

Turla said they are still investigating the motive for the killing. – Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu, Perseus Echeminada, AP, AFP