ON AIR Broadcaster Rey Blanco anchors a radio program in this photo posted on the Facebook page of Power 102.1 dyRY RFM on Aug. 11, 2021. Blanco, of Negros Oriental, was slain on Sunday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF POWER 102.1 DYRY RFM
DUMAGUETE CITY — The murder of a broadcaster in Mabinay town, Negros Oriental on Sept. 18, was borne out of anger, according to police investigators.
Lieutenant Colonel Roland Desiree Lavisto, chief of the Provincial Police Community Affairs Development Unit, said the suspect, Charles Amada, told him that he was angry at broadcaster Rey Blanco for repeatedly criticizing him and his family in his radio program.
The suspect also told the police last week that the broadcaster criticized his sister-in-law Josephine, the barangay captain of Himucdongon in Mabinay.
Amada surrendered to the police shortly after he stabbed Blanco, the anchor of “Rakrakan sa Hapon Bulls Eye with Rey Blanco” in Power 102.1 dyRY RFM, a radio station based in Mabinay.
Amada would face murder charges at the Negros Oriental Provincial Prosecutor’s Office and given a chance to answer the charges against him.
If the prosecutor finds enough basis to indict Charles, the case would be brought to the trial court. Otherwise, the case would be dismissed.
Murder, under the law, is a non-bailable offense.
Before the killing, Lavisto said Amada threatened the victim who challenged the suspect to kill him if he would visit Himucdongon in Mabinay.
Witnesses said Blanco went to the house of Amada’s brother, Wilbert, in Himucdongon around 6 p.m. on Sunday, but the suspect appeared from behind and stabbed the victim’s neck using a 10-inch knife.
The victim was rushed to the Mabinay Community Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician due to a fatal wound on his neck.
Blanco used to be a broadcaster at station dyRD in Bohol, where he became popular due to his hard-hitting commentaries in his “Nosi Balasi” program.
In 2010, he returned to his hometown in Bais City, Negros Oriental, where he continued his career in broadcasting.
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