Old grudge, politics eyed in Pangasinan radioman’s slay

VILLASIS, Pangasinan—Police were looking into an old grudge, a squabble among associates and politics as possible motives behind the gun slaying of local radio broadcaster Virgilio “Vir” Maganes here on Tuesday.

The investigation of the killing by two men in front of his house at Barangay San Blas was given top priority because “it took place in a very peaceful town,” said Police Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Ilocos regional police director.

The police also zeroed in on several “persons of interest” based on the footage from security cameras near the crime scene, according to Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.

“This case is personal to me—to us media persons,” Egco told the Inquirer after a closed-door meeting of the task force with police officials on Wednesday.

But he expressed reservations on whether the shooting could be classified as a media attack “because officially Maganes had no [media] work.”

Work related?

Maganes, 62, used to write a column for local newspaper Northern Watch that folded up in June. He had not been active in radio for months, Egco said.

Maganes had plans for a block-time program for a local radio station. He began a podcast called “Probinsyanong Journo” in October.

“But [the assault] could also be work-related,” Egco said, citing Maganes’ old radio programs that tackled political issues.

Members of the Maganes family asked for police security for fear for their safety.

A group of businessmen in eastern Pangasinan offered a P200,000 reward to anyone who could give information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects.