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Sunday, November 28, 2004
2 bikers gun down Cebuano lensman
By Allan I. Varquez
CEBU CITY -- A photographer of a local newspaper was shot about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Cebu City's reclamation area, bringing to four the number of working journalists killed this month alone in the country.
The killing of Allan Dizon, 30, of The Freeman and Banat News, is the first fatal attack on a member of the Cebu media, which held a prayer vigil last Nov. 18 to protest the killings of journalists in the country this year.
Dizon, who resided in Barangay Lorega, was the 12th member of the media killed this year in the Philippines. He left a wife and a child.
He bore two gunshot wounds, one in the back and one below his right ear. He reached the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) at 6:56 pm., but he died after almost two hours.
Dizon was shot at the corner of Soriano and Kaohsiung Sts., near SM City Cebu in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
A witness said Dizon was using his cell phone in front of a car wash shop on Kaohsiung St. for more than an hour when two men on a motorcycle came and stopped 10 meters away from him.
The rider, who was wearing a white jacket, denim shorts and a helmet, casually walked toward Dizon, holding a gun in his right hand.
Dizon tried to flee when he noticed the approaching gunman, but the latter chased him. While running, the assailant fired two shots.
As Dizon reached the corner of Soriano and Kaohsiung Sts., the gunman fired another shot a meter away, bringing Dizon down on the concrete sidewalk.
"The gunman stood near Dizon for about 10 seconds before he walked back to his companion driving the motorcycle. It's as if he wanted to be sure that Dizon was dead," said another witness. (Sun.Star is withholding his name for security reasons.)
The witness was on the other side of Soriano St. during the shooting.
He saw Dizon fall after the third shot. He said that as the gunman walked away, Dizon tried to get up but collapsed again.
Another witness said the camera bag of Dizon fell from his right shoulder as he ran away from the gunman.
"He tumbled after the third shot because the gunman was very near him," he said.
Homicide investigator Zenaido Pastorfide said it is too early to speculate on the motive of the killing.
Nobody was able to see the face of the gunman because people nearby scampered for safety during the shooting.
The witness ducked to avoid being hit during the gunfire. He only helped Dizon when the gunman went back to the waiting motorcycle and fled toward the Cebu International Port.
He said he tried to hail a taxi but none stopped, so he called up the Mobile Patrol headquarters to ask for assistance.
Police car 232 arrived at CCMC with Dizon at 6:56 p.m., but at 8:27 p.m. Dizon died.
Two empty shells of a .45 pistol were found at the crime scene.
Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (CIIB) Chief Pablo Labra II said they are having difficulty in their investigation because no witness can give them a clear description of the gunman and his companion.
Chino Gabutina, news editor of The Freeman, said the editorial department was stunned and could not hold back their tears upon learning Dizon died.
He said the paper's chairman, Jose "Dodong" Gullas, will provide a scholarship grant all the way to college for Dizon's child and give cash assistance to his wife.
"This is a blow to us in the media," Gabutina said in a phone interview.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has spearheaded protest marches to condemn the killings of media practitioners.
"Things are going from bad to worse. The government needs to act immediately to stop the killings," International Federation of Journalists president Christopher Warren said in an earlier press statement.
Dizon joined The Freeman and its Cebuano tabloid Banat in 1999.
(November 28, 2004 issue)
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