Journalists decry cops’ response

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines—Journalists here have decried what they said was the police’s lukewarm response to Thursday’s slay try against Bombo Radyo reporter Michael James Licuanan.

In a joint statement, the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)-Cagayan de Oro City chapter, said the police’s indifference was apparent in the way the investigation was moving—which was very slowly.

“Shortly after the attack on Licuanan, there was no effort to catch the suspects because no checkpoints were set up by the police,” COPC president Santiago Goking said.

Senior Supt. Gerardo Rosales, in a phone conference with journalists at the COPC office, yesterday denied this, saying they had set up checkpoints in Kinasanghan, Lumbia and Puerto, the city’s exit points.

The journalists said the checkpoints Rosales referred to existed even before Licuanan was shot.

Licuanan had just finished his radio broadcast and was riding home on a motorbike at about 9:30 p.m. when two men also riding on a motorcycle shot him. Critically wounded, Licuanan was able to run to a fire station for help.

Licuanan’s colleagues said the police initially sent only one officer to guard Licuanan at the hospital amid fears his assassins would be able to trace him.

JB Deveza of the NUJP’s Mindanao Media Safety Office said they had to seek the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation in Northern Mindanao and the regional prosecutor’s office for additional security for the broadcaster.

Licuanan, who has undergone two operations, is in stable condition, according to his physicians.

The police also eventually agreed to deploy two policemen per shift to ensure Licuanan’s safety.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said he had tasked the police’s Criminal Detection and Investigation Group (CIDG) to handle the investigation on the failed slay try.

Robredo said the investigation may appear to be slow but it would ensure that the real issue was uncovered. He did not give a time frame.

“It may result in arresting the wrong persons because the police are pressured to provide results,” Robredo said over a local radio station.

The Inquirer learned that the CIDG had created Task Force Dacoycoy headed by Supt. Emmanuel Hebron.

The task force will focus on issues tackled by Licuanan over his radio program, including the recent arrest of suspected drug lord Sammy Yusop.

The NBI said it had also initiated its own investigation of the Licuanan case.

The COPC and NUJP urged a no-nonsense investigation of the Licuanan slay try, the ninth attempt against a journalist in the Philippines this year.