Poe, media groups slam strafing of Negros broadcaster’s home

Senator Grace Poe and media groups have called as “deplorable” act the strafing of the house of broadcaster Rey Siason in Talisay, Negros Occidental.

Siason, former Negros Press Club president who now works with Muews Radio, was reportedly not at his house when gunshots were fired at his house by armed men onboard two motorcycles Wednesday night.

No one was reported injured in the incident but it reportedly traumatized Siazon’s family.

“The strafing at the house of broadcaster Rey Siason in Talisay, Negros Occidental is deplorable and should not go unpunished,” Poe said in a statement Friday.

Poe said that media practitioners like Siason should be allowed to do their jobs without being harmed.

“Threatening or harassing them with this cowardly act will suffocate the truth and freedom of the press,” she said.

Media groups in Negros have also condemned the strafing incident.

The Negros Press Club (NPC) in a statement on Thursday said it condemns in the strongest possible term the strafing incident.

Renato “Boy” Duran, president of NPC, said while no one was hurt “we believe that the act is despicable and an affront to members of the Fourth Estate.”

It is also an assault against press freedom, he added.

In his Facebook live post, Siason showed the recovered empty shells and deformed slugs of .45 caliber pistol, mostly at the second floor of the house.

Siason said he was not at home when the incident happened and was just informed by his daughter, through a phone call, that their house was strafed. They heard at least three gunshot sounds, Siason said.

Siason claimed that a night prior to the incident, two men on board a motorcycle also tailed the vehicle of their production manager Bambi Yngson when the latter dropped him off at his house.

NPC has joined the call for swift resolution of the case. “We are calling on authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the perpetrators to the bar of justice,” Duran said.

The local chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is also calling for a probe on the strafing incident.

NUJP-Bacolod chair Marchel Espina, in a statement, strongly denounced the threat on the life of Siason of Muews Radio.

NUJP-Bacolod reiterated that an attack on journalists is a threat to democracy.

“We call on the authorities to swiftly investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice,” Espina said.

The New People’s Army Leonardo Panaligan Command also issued a statement condemning the strafing incident as an affront to press freedom./asu