Armed men try but fail to burn radio station in North Cotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Unidentified men tried to set on fire a community radio station on the campus of the state-run University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato, on Tuesday, the police said Wednesday.

Superintendent Joseph Semillano, Kabacan police chief, said the men lit a tarpaulin hanging at the back of the station around 4:30 a.m. after firing several shots.

Semillano said the guard on duty later noticed  smoke billowing from the transmitter room and alerted the Bureau of Fire Protection.

He said the police were still investigating the incident. Semillano said they were look into the relationship between the gunfire and the foiled arson.

Malu Manar of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in North Cotabato said the gunfire and the foiled arson might have been related because the authorities  recovered a slug embedded in the announcer’s studio.

She reported witnesses as saying  the bullet may have been fired at 1:40 a.m., when a series of gunbursts was heard outside the station.

Rhoderick Beñez, DXVL Radyo ng Bayan news chief, said they had not received any threat either through text messages or phone calls prior to the incident.

But Beñez said the station’s reporters and anchors had been discussing some sensitive issues affecting the town, including illegal drugs and logging,  prior to the incident.

“The attempted arson could have something to do with controversial issues discussed over the radio station,” Semillano said.

Reports from Charlie Señase, Edwin Fernandez and Aquiles Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao