PNP eyes land dispute in journalist’s slay

MANILA, Philippines — A land dispute is one possible motive being eyed in the killing of Pampanga-based journalist Jesus Malabanan, the Philippine National Police said on Monday.

PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said the Eastern Visayas regional police had formed a Special Investigation Task Group to probe the murder of Malabanan, who was killed on Dec. 8 in Calbayog City in Samar province.

“Initially, the [Eastern Visayas police] are looking at land dispute as an angle” and have identified a “person of interest” in the murder, Carlos told reporters at a press briefing in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“Is the work of Jess Malabanan connected to the land dispute? That is what they are carefully looking at,” he added.

Correspondent

Malabanan, a Pampanga-based correspondent for Manila Standard, Bandera and wire agency Reuters, was visiting his mother in Calbayog City and was inside their family’s store with wife Milagros when he was killed.

Milagros, who was unharmed, said her husband died instantly from a headshot by still unidentified assailants.

His widow said she was at a loss as to the motive for the killing but recalled that Malabanan helped farmers in Calbayog settle a land dispute in 2018. The veteran journalist also assisted Reuters in its Pulitzer Prize-winning story on President Duterte’s war on drugs.

Aside from the PNP, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security and the Commission on Human Rights were also investigating the killing of Malabanan.