THE Leonardo Panaligan Command (LPC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) condemned the killing of a radio broadcaster in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on April 30.
Five days ago, Edmund Sestoso, host of the program Tug-anan on dyGB Power 91, and a former chairman of National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP)-Dumaguete City chapter, was shot by two unidentified men on a motorcycle while he was on his way home after work.
Sestoso was also a former employee of SunStar Dumaguete.
He was rushed to a hospital after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds but died the following day.
In a press release dated May 3, Ka JB Regalado, spokesperson of LPC, said the recent media killing was a result of media suppression not just in Negros Island but in the Philippines.
Regalado said the incident is a "forced and arbitrary" act of taking away the democratic rights of the media to educate and inform the public.
The group is calling the state authorities especially the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (Norppo) to conduct an intensive investigation on the incident, to arrest the culprit, and to give justice to the victim and his family.
The group also mentioned another incident last February, wherein Ranie Azue, a radio anchor of a local-based radio station in Talisay City, Negros Occidental was allegedly harassed and attacked.
With such incidents, the group called to stop political and media killings and repression, as well as to uphold press freedom.