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Friday, July 21, 2006
New suspect in radioman's slay sued
DAVAO CITY -- Police filed murder charges Thursday against the suspect in the slaying of a radio broadcaster in Digos City.
The one charged, however, is not the motorcycle owner but a totally new suspect, a certain Tungol Anticamara.
Police Regional Director Ricardo Quinto said Anticamara was positively identified by a witness who was at the crime scene when radioman Armando "Racman" Pace was gunned down on Tuesday.
Police have intensified their manhunt for the respondent who is reported to be in hiding.
There was no detail released on the background of the new suspect.
Southern Mindanao Police Regional Office information officer Belflor Causing earlier said they are looking into all possible angles on Pace's death.
Also invited by police for questioning was Jesus Saraum, a moneylender in Digos.
Recovered from Saraum was a blue XRM motorcycle suspected of being used in the crime.
A paraffin test on Saraum showed no powder burns. Causing said this does not mean that Saraum is already off the hook.
Saraum though was later released by the police for lack of evidence against him.
As earlier reported, Pace was shot by the passenger of a blue motorcycle, which means the driver did not do any shooting.
Pace, 55, who hails from Padada, Davao del Sur, was the host of "Ukadyang," a block time program aired over Radyo Ukay.
He had faced over a hundred libel cases in court over his program but all of these were dismissed.
The incident last Tuesday was not the first attempt on the broadcaster's life. Pace survived two earlier attempts.
The International Federation of Journalists, meanwhile, expressed alarm over the overwhelming number of journalists being murdered in the Philippines.
"This brings the Philippines' atrocious record for journalist safety to a new low, less than a month after the shocking murder of journalist husband and wife team George and Macel Alave Vigo," IFJ President Christopher Warren said.
According to IFJ affiliate National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, this latest murder brings the total to 82 journalists murdered since the Philippines regained democracy in 1986, and to eight journalists murdered just this year.
"The frightening aspect of these statistics is that despite being a democracy, the situation for press freedom and the safety of journalists in the Philippines seems to be deteriorating steadily, with no indication that anything is being done to protect the lives of media workers," Warren said.
"The IFJ calls for a full investigation into whether Pace's murder was linked to his work as a journalist, and demands the perpetrators of this crime to be brought to justice quickly and satisfactorily," Warren added. (BOT of Sun.Star Davao/With reports from Peng Aliño/Sunnex)
(July 21, 2006 issue)
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