Suspects charged with murder of Davao journalist

A barangay chief and a policeman have been named respondents in the killing of a radio man from Davao Oriental last week, a local police official said Tuesday.

A complaint filed with the Davao Oriental Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Monday tagged Barangay Old Macopa chairman Romeo Antoling and PO1 Dennis Lumikid for the killing of Desidario Camangyan in Manao town Monday last week, Senior Superintendent Jorge Corpus of Task Force Camangyan said.

Camangyan, the first of three media workers killed last week, was shot dead while hosting a singing contest in Barangay Old Macopa Monday.

Lumikid was charged with murder after witnesses positively identified him as the gunman who shot Camangyan, Corpus said. Antoling, meanwhile, was implicated in the case after he was seen talking with Lumikid prior to the incident.

Corpus likewise said that the killing of the broadcaster is "work-related" and "politically motivated."

"It has something to do with politics, illegal logging," he said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday.

He added that the court has yet to release an arrest warrant against the two suspects.

A day after Camangyan’s shooting, radio broadcaster Jovelito Agustin of dzJC Aksyon Radyo Laoag was ambushed in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte while on his way home. He died while receiving treatment.

Last Saturday, Nestor Bedolido of local newspaper Kastigador was shot dead in Digos City in Davao del Sur province — the third media worker to be killed in the country in a span of seven days.

International media groups have already expressed alarm and called for immediate action on the series of media killings in the country the past few days, which raises the number of journalists killed under the Arroyo administration to 104. - AC/RJAB Jr/KBK, GMANews.TV