Broadcaster killed in Tawi-Tawi

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A radio station manager and broadcast journalist was shot dead in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi province late Sunday, police said yesterday.

Richard Najid, manager of FM station Power Mix dxNN in Bongao, died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.

Najid, 35, was riding his motorcycle coming from a basketball game when three unidentified men opened fire in Barangay Tubig Boh.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Superintendent Noel delos Reyes said investigators are checking if the killing is work-related.

While Najid’s work at dxNN was that of a manager and senior disc jockey, he also reported on current events in the province.

“For now we still have no solid clue on whether it was work-related, or probably triggered by a personal grudge. Let’s give investigators enough time to finish their work,” Delos Reyes said.

A colleague, Babylin Cano Omar of Catholic station dxGD in Bongao, described Najid as friendly, easy to get along with and courteous.

“We are grieving over this sad demise of a brother journalist,” Omar said.

Najid was the second broadcast journalist killed in Bongao in seven years.

In 2006, Vicente Sumalpong, a broadcast staff of a Radyo ng Bayan outfit in Bongao, was killed. The case remains unsolved.

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said Najid was the 26th journalist killed under the Aquino administration.

NUJP president Rowena Paraan said 80 percent of journalist killings involved local police who act as protectors of local politicians.

Paraan called for a system to ensure fair investigation of journalist killings.

She said the number of journalists killed during the Aquino administration surpassed the number killed in the previous administration.

“We need to look at the systemic problem,” she said.

Paraan said the national police are not fully equipped in handling journalist killings.

She added the national police are suffering from a credibility problem. “Impunity prevails when the credibility of the national police and their officers in the communities are highly questionable,” she said.

National Press Club president Joel Sy Egco also expressed dismay over the killing. He said the murder of Najid is another “humiliating sequel to President Aquino’s pathetic gaffe” when he addressed the query of a foreign correspondent over the issue of killings of journalists. “Najib’s murder came barely a week after Aquino blabbered helplessly when asked to explain why media killings persist under his administration,” Egco said. “This is a clear indication of lack of real concern or plain disregard for the deadly plight of Filipino journalists. He couldn’t even get his facts straight,” he added.

Malacañang condemned the killing and ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate.

“We condemn the killing of Mr. Najib. The PNP has already been instructed to investigate, arrest and hold accountable those who may have a hand in the crime,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said. – Roel Pareño, Ed Amoroso, Delon Porcalla