A journalist based in Davao del Norte was gunned down by unknown killers around 2 pm on Thursday in Panabo City in Davao del Sur, police said.
The victim was Dennis Denora, 67, publisher of the community paper Trends and Times and a former columnist of the Sunstar newspaper.
Denora was on board his white Hyundai vehicle en route to Tagum City when he was shot twice in the head and died instantly, police said.
In other developments:
• Police Chief Oscar Albayalde on Thursday vowed to help prosecutors get their licenses to carry firearms following the killing of Ombudsman assistant special prosecutor Madonna Joy Ednaco-Tanyag.
After visiting Tanyag’s wake at the St. Peter Memorial Chapels in Quezon City on Wednesday, Albayalde told reporters he had earlier met with prosecutors from Metro, Region 4 and the Department of Justice last week to discuss how the PNP could help them with their permits to carry firearms.
“This is not just about safety of Ombudsman prosecutors,” Albayalde said.
• “Not martial law, possibly a state of national emergency,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said when asked to explain the “radical changes” President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned during his arrival speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from South Korea.
He said Duterte was frustrated over the spate of killings and other crimes in the country, including corruption.
The President vowed to introduce “radical changes in the days to come” because of rising criminality that he attributed to illegal drugs.
“The President may have been alarmed by the recent killings of two prosecutors”•Quezon City assistant prosecutor Rogelio Velasco and assistant special prosecutor Madonna Joy Tanyag of the Office of the Ombudsman,” Roque said.
“If there are legal and factual bases, that’s in the Constitution. He mentioned the state of national emergency, which is the least intrusive of the three powers of the President as commander-in-chief,” Roque said.
He cited the case of a pregnant woman who was killed, saying there were reports that there is an increase in robbery incidents in Metro Manila and other schemes that victimized motorists.
“That is one of the many reasons why the President wants to expand the fight against criminality,” Roque said.
Roque believes there is more room for improvement in the fight against crime.
“The President reiterated that while we have been combating crime and prohibited drugs since day 1 of this administration, apparently we can do more,” he said.
Roque said police chief Oscar Albayalde was aware of the President’s concerns and had called for a meeting to address them.