Tacurong City (outlined in red) is in the province of Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao. (Image from Google Maps)
DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Police filed murder complaints against suspects behind the killing last month of a former broadcaster running for a local post in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat province.
Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, said the murder complaint was filed on Feb. 11 against Dalod Palakasi and Alamsor Matakending, both residents of Mangudadatu town in Maguindanao.
Hard-hitting
Jaynard Angeles, 36, a former political commentator and station manager for Radyo ni Juan, was gunned down on Jan. 12 in front of a car repair shop in Tacurong. The suspects, later identified as Palakasi and Matakending, fled and have yet to be arrested.
Egco thanked the Sultan Kudarat police for the speedy investigation of Angeles’ case.
“The filing of murder charges against the suspects is a testament to the government’s relentless commitment to bring to justice all perpetrators of violence and to end impunity,” he said.
Angeles, known for his hard-hitting commentaries that angered some local officials, had resigned from the station last year to run for councilor in the town of Lambayong.
If the attack would be proven to be linked to his work as a journalist, Angeles would be the 23rd killed under the administration of President Duterte, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said.
In October 2019, Benjie Caballero, then Radyo ni Juan station manager, was also shot in Tacurong and died in a hospital two months later.
—JEOFFREY MAITEM
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