Ex newspaper correspondent killed in Laguna

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna – A former correspondent of a Manila broadsheet was gunned down by a motorcycle-riding assailant in San Pedro, Laguna over the weekend, police said yesterday.

Superintendent Jolly Dizon, San Pedro town police chief, identified the ex-reporter was also a police asset. Edward Pelayo, 40, single, resident of Barangay Sampaguita, who died from a lone gunshot on his head.

Investigators said Pelayo was on his way home after visiting a friend in Barangay Cuyab when he was shot in the head by a lone gunman armed with a .45 caliber pistol while riding a motorcycle around 12:35 a.m. last Saturday. Pelayo was taken to the Divine Mercy Hospital in Muntinlupa City where he was declared dead on arrival.

The victim was a former correspondent of Today publication covering the police beat. He was a former officer of the Police Regional Offfice 4 Press Corps before he became an asset of  the intelligence division of San Pedro police station during the time of Superintendent Sergio Dimandal who is now a Public Information Officer here.

Police said the killing might be drug-related after Pelayo worked as a police asset, gathering information against drug pushers in their community.

Lourdes “Chuchay” Fernandez, former editor-in-chief of Today, said Pelayo used to cover the Southern Tagalog beat for Today before the broadsheet was merged with the Manila Standard.       – Arnell Ozaeta, Ed Amoroso