President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the authorities to arrest the people behind the murder of broadcaster and block timer in Negros Oriental, Malacañang said Thursday.
Dindo Generoso, 67, was on his way to his morning radio program on station dyEM when his car was fired upon by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen in Piapi village in Dumaguete City around 7:30 a.m., killing him instantly.
“The President has directed the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and to prosecute those behind the killing, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said his department will create a special investigating team that will look into the circumstances surrounding Generoso’s killing.
“Not again…we will create a special investigating team to look into this incident ASAP,” Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.
Martin Andanar, head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, said they will extend help to Generoso’s family.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security condemned Generoso’s killing.
“This dastardly deed will not go unpunished. Whoever is behind this senseless murder will be brought to justice, Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco said in a statement.
Generoso was an anchor for development projects of the local government of Dumaguete and whose program, “Bai Radio,” serves as an extension of its public information office.
He also ran for Dumaguete City mayor in 2016 but lost to Felipe Antonio Remollo.
PTFoMS data showed that around 22 block timers have been killed since 2003.
“Block timers have been particularly vulnerable because of their involvement with politicians as a whole,” Egco said.
“The Task Force calls on our various media groups and stations, and all media practitioners to take a deeper look into the practice of block timing vis-à-vis its inherent dangers.”
Generoso’s death marks the second time since 2018 that a local media personality was gunned down in Negros Oriental.
Edmund Sestoso, former National Union of Journalists of the Philippines chairman, was also shot on April 31, 2018.
The NUJP condemned Generoso’s murder as it called on independent journalists to demand justice for the continued attacks on media workers and on freedom of the press.“For as long as extrajudicial killings remain unsolved, the culture of impunity that plagues the country will continue to embolden those who choose violence to impose their will and suppress people’s basic rights, the NUJP said in a statement.
