Two suspects, including a former policeman, were arrested on Friday for the murder of 67-year-old radio broadcaster and block timer Dindo Generoso, officials said.
Retired Police Corporal Glenn Corsame and Teddy Reyes Salaw, 44, were detained at the Dumaguete City Police Station to face murder charges.
The suspects have links to a “powerful” politician in the province, according to the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, but the police have yet to identify the mastermind and the motive behind Generoso’s murder.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, PTFoMS co-chairman, said the two were nabbed at 5 p.m. on Thursday, nearly 10 hours after Generoso’s murder.
Undersecretary Joel Egco identified Generoso’s alleged killers as Corsame, retired personnel of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office and Salaw of Batinguel, Dumaguete City.
The announcement of the arrest and preparations for the filing of criminal charges against the suspects was made through a PTFOMS Facebook post on Friday.
Generoso died on the spot on Thursday morning when the suspects shot him while he was on his way to dyEM 96.7 Bai Radio in Piapi village.
A .45-caliber Norinco pistol with eight rounds of live ammunition were seized from Corsame and Salaw, along with a phone containing their text messages about the killing.
The vehicle used during the murder was tracked down through CCTV footage, and it was owned by a certain Tomas Alegro, according to the authorities.
Malacañang praised the quick arrest of Corsame and Salaw, but the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said it was “worrisome” that one of the suspects used to be part of the police force.
“The fact that two of the alleged killers are policemen is cause enough for worry and reinforces the findings of media organizations that tend to indicate the involvement of state security personnel in many journalists’ murders in the county,” the NUJP said in a statement.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered the police to leave no stone unturned in going after Generoso’s killers.
The task force on media security said it will protect media workers against threats.
“We will continue to actively protect the rights and lives of our media professionals, and constantly seek justice for those who have been affected by these senseless acts,” Egco said. With PNA