Probers release sketch of tabloid reporter’s gunman

MANILA, Philippines - Police released yesterday a sketch of one of the killers of a 48-year-old tabloid reporter in Balanga City in Bataan last Thursday.

In a phone interview, Bataan police director Senior Superintendent Rhodel Sermonia yesterday said witnesses saw one of the gunmen shoot Abante reporter Nerlita Ledesma while she was waiting for a tricycle to take her to work at the Bataan Provincial Capitol, where she headed the public information office.

“We have been monitoring the movement of this person,” he said. “We have more information about him but we have to conduct further investigation for verification.”

Sermonia said investigators have withheld the name of the gunman pending investigation on Ledesma’s murder.

Some witnesses described the gunmen as wearing jackets, bonnets and sunglasses, he added.

Sermonia said one of the gunmen was wearing a helmet and the other a bonnet.

The helmet and bonnet covered only their hair and faces and witnesses saw their beards, he added.

Sermonia said unidentified men were seen roaming Ledesma’s subdivision three days before she was killed.

Witnesses have described the gunmen, he added.

Speaking to reporters, Central Luzon police officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Ronald Santos said investigators are looking into whether a leadership struggle in a subdivision in Bataan is behind the killing of Ledesma.

Ledesma was president of the Tagnai subdivision in Barangay Tuyo in Balanga City, he added.

Santos said the killing of Ledesma is not related to her work as a media person.

“The Special Investigating Task Group is focusing on   the struggle in the leadership of the subdivision,” he said.

Last Thursday was the promulgation of a case for physical injuries that the family of Ledesma had filed against a certain Jennifer, he added.

Bataan Gov. Albert Raymond Garcia has initially offered a reward of P100,000 for the arrest of the killers of Ledesma. – With Ric Sapnu, Raffy Viray