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Friday, May 06, 2005
Police widens dragnet for Dipolog broadcaster's killers
MANILA -- The Task Force formed to investigate the death of Dipolog broadcast journalist Klein Cantoneros has expanded its manhunt for the three suspects to neighboring provinces.
Malacañang on the other hand recommended the setting up of a fund to ensure financial assistance to the families of the slain journalists.
Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Batoil said police investigators are following up good leads but would need more witness to strengthen the case.
He said PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao ordered Western Mindanao Police chief Vidal Querol to widen the manhunt to the surrounding regions.
Cantoneros, 32, a hard-hitting radio broadcaster in the southern city of Dipolog, was shot seven times by unidentified gunmen and taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds, his station, dxAA, reported.
Cantoneros had frequently criticized local officials for alleged corruption and mismanagement in his early morning program. The broadcaster had received death threats, some through cell phone text messages, which he read on the air, colleagues said.
He reportedly managed to crawl and hide in the bushes for two hours and later sought the help of a passerby, who brought him to the hospital.
Police said when they rushed to the scene, they found the critically wounded Cantoneros clutching his own .45 caliber pistol.
He apparently was able to fire back at the three assailants, based on bullet shells found near him, police investigators said.
Media fund
The presidential spokesman said the media fund could also be used to help witnesses and their families who would come out to testify in the cases.
"We should also set up a corresponding fund to assist the families not only of (the slain) journalists but others who would need help in some extraordinary circumstances. A specific agency of the government the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) has been giving out assistance to families who are victims of extraordinary circumstances," he added.
Bunye said details of the proposed fund have yet to be threshed out but the fund could likely be sourced from the DSWD.
The Philippines was recently branded as the most dangerous country for journalists in the world by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
At least four journalists had already been killed since January, the last of which is Cantoneros.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita earlier affirmed the government's commitment to protect the media and promote press freedom adding that of the 58 murder cases, from 1986 to May 01, 2005, handled by Task Force Newsmen, 31 of them have already been filed in court while the 27 other are still under investigation.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the murder of Cantoneros.
In a memorandum, Gonzalez tasked NBI Chief Reynaldo Wycoco "to coordinate with the PNP and submit a status report thereon soonest."
Gonzalez said the NBI should coordinate with the Dipolog City Prosecutor's Office regarding the case.
Cantoneros is the second journalist killed in Dipolog since 1986, when democracy was restored in the country.
Sixty-six journalists have been murdered since 1986 - 23 of them in the past three years alone, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said. The mostly unresolved murders prompted the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists to describe the Philippines as the world's "most murderous" country for reporters.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the statement was "unfair and exaggerated." On Wednesday, Bunye condemned the latest attack and said "we expect the Philippine National Police to do their job in investigating this crime." (JMR/BBP/AP)
(May 6, 2005 issue)
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