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Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Broadcaster killed, 2 others wounded in ambush
By Bong Garcia
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A production supervisor of a government radio station was killed while two others were injured in an ambush Monday in the island province of Tawi-Tawi.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) policemen said the incident took place around 8 a.m. in Barangay Nalil in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi's capital town.
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Killed was Vicente Sumalpong, 36, of the state-run radio station dxDC or Radyo ng Bayan in Tawi-Tawi.
Wounded was Vema Antham, 40, also a broadcaster of the same radio station, and Sumalpong's nephew, Roilan Hope Borja.
They were aboard a motorcycle and were on their way to the radio station when one of two men riding tandem on another motorcycle fired at them using automatic rifle.
Sumalpong died from five gunshot wounds. Antham sustained a bullet wound in her shoulder while Borja was hit on the right foot.
Spent shells from an Uzi automatic rifle and caliber .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
Armm Police Director Joel Goltiao said they are eyeing two possible motives for the shooting.
First is the incident could be work-related, and second, a power play, according to Goltiao.
The police, however, were inclined to believe that it is work-related.
Goltiao said Sumalpong has been assisting the family of a shooting victim in the documentation of testimonies and evidence for the filing of a criminal case against the alleged gunman in court.
This shooting incident took place last Wednesday in the island town of Sanga-Sanga, Tawi-Tawi. Sumalpong was helping the family of the victim who was shot dead by the gunman.
Goltiao said they are pursuing Sumalpong's gunmen in Sanga-Sanga and Bongao towns. Police believe Sumalpong's killer and the gunman in last Wednesday's incident were one and the same person.
"We are trying our very best to solve the case," he said. "We are conducting pursuit operations."
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) reported that 52 journalists had been killed in the country since 2001. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (June 26, 2007 issue)
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