Woman radio host gunned down

MANILA, Philippines - A woman broadcaster was shot dead while on her way to work yesterday morning in Malabon City.

Radio station dzME said anchorwoman Marlina Flores Somera, 45-year-old married mother of three, hosted a public service show. “The broadcaster’s relatives believe a land dispute was the motive behind the crime,” the station said on its website but did not elaborate.

The station said Somera’s radio show focused on helping poor members of society, and did not deal in the kind of political commentary that frequently got other journalists in the country killed.

National Police District (NPD) crime laboratory chief Superintendent Filemon Porciuncula said Somera was shot in the back of the head, with the bullet going out her left eye.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao has created Task Force Somera, headed by Malabon police intelligence head Chief Inspector Ferdinand Balgoa, to focus on the case.

Police Officer 2 Jerry de la Torre said Somera had just attended an urban poor meeting at the Malabon City Hall and gone home before reporting to the radio station.

Family members said at around 9:35 a.m., Somera was on her way to the station in time for her 10:30 a.m. public service program “Arangkada 1530” when she was shot.

Witness Elizabeth Villa, 57, Somera’s aunt, described the broadcaster’s killer as about a man 5’2” tall, with a round face, wearing a white jacket with yellow stripes and denim pants.

Villa told The STAR she first saw the gunman at around 6:45 a.m. across the street from their compound as she was hanging laundry out to dry. She said the gunman walked in and out of their compound several times and chatted with some residents.

After noticing he had been there for hours, Villa asked the man what he was doing there. The man said he was on an errand.

Villa said she used to walk Somera out to the street and wait until she gets a ride to work. Yesterday, the victim walked out alone. Villa later heard a gunshot that sent her running downstairs, and she saw her niece lying on the pavement.

She said she saw two other men – apparently lookouts – run out of a nearby eatery and flee with the gunman, who boarded a passing passenger jeepney. Other witnesses said one of the lookouts was a woman.

Another witness, who requested anonymity, said the gunman was seen having a meal at the eatery two days before he killed Somera.

Land dispute

Police investigators said the motive for Somera’s murder may be a brewing land dispute involving feuding homeowners on Silonian street in Barangay Maysilo, with one group, the Silonian Homeowners Association (SHA), headed by the victim and another group, the Kapitabahayan at Samahan sa Maysilo (Kasama), led by Emma Nuqui.

Witnesses said the two groups are both claiming ownership of a 4.2-hectare National Housing Authority property in Barangay Maysilo that was reportedly awarded in 2008.

The feud came to a head as the two groups met in a hearing Monday at the Malabon regional trial court on a petition for temporary restraining order by Nuqui’s group to stop the SHA from implementing several projects, including one for a road and drainage system and a multi-purpose hall.

SHA auditor Monina Paalala told The STAR Nuqui’s group had no legitimate claim to the property. During Monday’s hearing, SHA lawyers demanded that Kasama first present documents proving their rightful ownership of the land they are occupying. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, AP