BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Governor Albert Garcia has offered P100,000 for information that will lead to the arrest of the gunman, who shot dead a woman reporter waiting for a ride at a bus stop near her home in this city, a senior police official said on Friday.
Central Luzon police director Chief Supt. Ronald Santos said the governor offered the reward to help solve the killing on Thursday of Nerlie Ledesma, reporter of Abante tabloid newspaper, but investigators have a “lead” on the identity of the suspect.
“We have information that the suspect is a member of a gun-for-hire gang operating in Bataan and we are inching closer to him,” Santos said.
Ledesma was shot dead by a motorcycle back rider, who shot her on the chest at close range with a .45 caliber gun. The riders, who pulled up near Ledesma, were wearing jackets, bonnets and sun glasses.
The murder of Ledesma brings to 172 the total number of journalists killed since 1986 and 31 under the administration of President Aquino. More than a year ago, Ledesma’s house was strafed with gunfire but no one was hurt.
Santos believed Ledesma’s death was not work-related and said she was the head of a group involved in a land dispute in Sitio San Rafael in Barangay Tuyo and has been collecting monthly dues from tenants.
“It’s not work related. We are giving more weight on land dispute but we are not ruling out other possible motives,” Santos said.