Broadcaster killed in Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — A radio broadcaster based in northern Guihulngan City was shot dead by yet unidentified "riding-in-tandem" assassins in nearby La Libertad town, Negros Oriental yesterday dawn.

La Libertad police identified the victim as Gabriel "Gabby" Alburo, 50, an announcer for FM station DYJL based in Guihulngan City. On-air, he was better known as "Kumander Agila."

Initial police investigation showed that Alburo was tailed by two motorcycle-riding gunmen on his way home from a cockfighting derby at around 3:05 AM on Friday. He was killed on the spot after being shot several times.

Police recovered at least 11 spent ammunition believed to have come from caliber .45 and 9-millimeter pistols. As of press time, Alburo's remains have yet to undergo autopsy to determine the number of gunshot wounds he suffered.

While authorities have yet to determine the motive for the killing, La Libertad police chief Senior Inspector Danilo Santillan said that Alburo's murder may have been gambling-related.

"Napildi man to siya sa pusta unya nisibat (sa bulangan), kay pag-check namo sa iyang wallet, wala na may sulod nga kwarta," the police chief said over the phone, adding that the person who witnessed the murder also lost all his money after the cockfight like Alburo.

Three days before his murder, Alburo returned to DYJL, where he had previously worked as the station’s morning news anchor for two years. Prior to his comeback, he was an announcer for another Guihulngan-based radio station known as "Light Radio."

Jose Jaime "Nonoy" Espina, director of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), said that his organization will only release an official statement once it is confirmed that Alburo's work as a broadcaster had something to do with his murder.

"Whatever the motive, nobody deserves to die like this. It is imperative for the police to leave no stone unturned and solve this case swiftly. Not because Mr. Alburo is a colleague but because he, like all victims of crime, deserves justice," Espina said.

Alburo is the second journalist in Negros Oriental killed this year. Last May, unidentified motorcycle-riding assassins shot dead Dumaguete-based broadcaster Edmund Sestoso near his boarding house in Barangay Daro of this city.

As of press time, police have yet to refile the murder charge against alleged communist leader Rene Bustamante, the suspected mastermind behind the Sestoso murder.

This was after the Dumaguete City Prosecutor's Office junked the charges against Bustamante and his two nephews last August, citing lack of evidence and contradicting witness statements.—  FPL (FREEMAN)