Cagayan de Oro journalists worry as city sees first killing of media worker

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Journalists in Cagayan de Oro on Thursday, June 30, called on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to look into the killings of media workers and start bringing their killers to justice a day after gunmen shot dead a political radio commentator here.

Journalists expressed worry that the killing of radio commentator Federico “Ding” Gempesaw on Wednesday morning, June 29, the eve of Marcos’ assumption of the presidency, could signal the start of attacks on media workers in Cagayan de Oro.

The attack on the 62-year-old Gempesaw, the host of the radio program Bitayan sa Kahanginan (Gallows on-air) at the local broadcaster Radyo Natin FM, is the first media killing in the city.

He was the 24th and last media worker killed since 2016 when former president Rodrigo Duterte rose to power, and the 196th since democracy was restored in the Philippines in 1986, based on data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The NUJP said Gempesaw was also the third radio broadcaster killed in Mindanao this year.

The two other Mindanao-based media workers killed in gun attacks since January:

• Jaynard Angeles, station manager of Radyo Natin, Tacurong City, who was shot dead in Tacurong City on January 12 
• Jhannah Villegas, a block-time radio commentator at Radyo Ukay in Kidapawan City in Cotabato province, who was shot dead in the Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Maguindanao province, on April 24

Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) president Frank Mendez called on the Marcos administration to put a stop to the killings, and for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to step in.

He also urged the Duterte-created Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) “to pay attention to the murder of Gempesaw,” and the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO) to find the journalist’s killers.

“We have to put a stop to this kind of violence because it could happen to any of us,” he said. “They could kill more.”

Gempesaw had just stepped out of a taxi in front of his house in Macanhan, Barangay Carmen, when he was attacked in broad daylight by two still unidentified gunmen who then fled riding in tandem on a motorcycle.

He was first shot to the nape and finished off with a second bullet, police said.

“The brutal murder of Gempesaw has no place in a democratic society, and we demand that the police leave no stone unturned, and bring the perpetrators, as well as the mastermind, to justice,” the NUJP said in a statement.

Gempesaw’s killing drew an outburst from former governor and Misamis Oriental 2nd District Representative Yevgeny Vincente Emano who offered P500,000 to reward anyone who could provide useful information that could result in the arrest of the killers.

The victim was close to the Emanos and a staunch supporter of the political family on-air and off for years.

Governor Emano said Gempesaw’s radio commentaries were mostly about the wrongdoings of high-profile personalities.

“You can’t do this to an old man… Well, we can only speculate. It’s such an act of cowardice,” Emano said.

Gempesaw’s widow Merlyn said she just found out from her late husband’s friends that he had received death threats. She said Gempesaw didn’t discuss the threats with the family.

“It was plain injustice. We’re calling for the government to act swiftly and give us justice,” Merlyn said.

Lieutenant Colonel Surki Sereñas, deputy police director of Cagayan de Oro, said investigators were getting statements from more witnesses and were trying to see if the killers were caught on CCTV cameras. – Rappler.com