DAVAO CITY?(UPDATE) Desiderio ?Jesse? Camangyan agreed to serve as host of the singing contest organized in connection with the fiesta celebration of Macopa village in Manay, Davao Oriental, on Monday evening.

It was a side job that would have paid the 52-year-old Camangyan P3,000, large by provincial media standards as countryside broadcasters like him do not earn much from their profession.

He had no idea it would be his last time to hold a microphone?the tool of his trade for the past 20 years.

As Camangyan, who became popular among listeners of Sunrise FM for his hard-hitting commentaries, was introducing another contestant around 10:30 p.m., a lone gunman sneaked from behind and shot him in the head, Senior Insp. Ariel Nueva, Manay police chief, said Tuesday.

Nueva said the unidentified man fled after shooting the victim, whose wife and 6-year-old son, were in the audience.

?The stage is enclosed with a cyclone wire and beyond it is a dark grassy area, which might have concealed the suspect,? Nueva told the INQUIRER by phone as he explained why responding lawmen failed to catch the gunman.

Supt. Querubin Manalang, police spokesperson for Southern Mindanao, said they were hoping to identify the assailant soon and probably, the mastermind.

?There were many witnesses since it was a singing contest,? he said.

Asked what the motive of the killing could be, Manalang said the police were still conducting an investigation and had formed the Special Task Group Camangyan.

A source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the victim was known for his ?hard-hitting? commentaries, adding that Camangyan ?practically criticized everything that is anomalous? in the province.

The source also said Camangyan served as political commentator for Mati Mayor Michelle Rabat during the elections.

?But the victim may have enemies other than politicians hurt by his commentaries,? the source said.

Bobong Alcantara, manager of Sunrise FM, said he was more inclined to believe that Camangyan?s tirades against illegal logging and mining were the reasons for the attack.

?He was known for hitting the alleged illegal logging activities in the province, particularly in Manay in his programs,? Joanna Mabini, a media practitioner in Mati, also said.

?It was really an unfortunate incident. The whole Mati media was saddened by the murder,? she said.

The National Union of Journalist of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao said because the attack occurred in front of many people, it showed that the perpetrators were guiltless.

?It was an act indicating the ever-existent culture of impunity in our midst, which is most felt in small and remote towns dominated by the very powerful few,? the NUJP said in a statement.

Camangyan became the 138th journalist murdered in the country since 1986, 101 of them were killed during the administration of President Macapagal-Arroyo.