Misamis Occidental offers P3.5-M reward to find Jumalon’s killer

NOT SAFE AT HOME Screengrabs of the CCTV footage from the home of Juan Jumalon show two gun-wielding men enter the driveway (with one of them pointing his weapon at the houseboy) as the other intruder steps into Jumalon’s booth (right photo) and shoots the broadcaster during his livestreamed show.

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Slain Misamis Occidental broadcaster Juan “Johnny Walker” Jumalon was laid to rest in his hometown of Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte, on Sunday, seven days after a gunman barged into his booth in his own home in Calamba town on Nov. 5 and shot him dead in the middle of his broadcast.

The provincial government of Misamis Occidental on Friday offered a P3.5-million bounty to anyone who could provide information and capture the perpetrators.

Misamis Occidental Gov. Henry Oaminal said that of the reward money, P500,000 would be given to the individual who could provide information and P3 million to the law enforcer who could arrest the killer.

The Philippine National Police filed in the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Misamis Occidental on Nov. 8 charges of murder and theft against three suspects who went to Jumalon’s house and carried out the shooting. Only one of the three suspects was named in the charge sheet while two others were identified only as John Does.

Capt. Deore Ragonio, chief of the Calamba police, said the gun-for-hire group where the three suspects belong has been identified.

He said they had intelligence information that the group has been operating in the towns of Sapang Dalaga, Concepcion, Baliangao, Calamba, and Plaridel.

While the Special Investigation Task Group Johnny Walker has yet to conclude the investigation, the recent identification of a gun-for-hire group meant the crime was done only for money, Ragonio said.

‘Promising results’

In Manila, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security on Sunday said the investigation into Jumalon’s murder has yielded “promising results” that would lead to the resolution of the fourth killing of a journalist under the Marcos administration.

“The leads and possible motives being pursued by the (police) investigators are showing promising results pointing to a faster resolution of this incident,” task force head Paul Gutierrez said in a statement.

Gutierrez, a former president of the National Press Club, flew to Oroquieta City for a meeting with Col. Dwight Monato, the chief of the Misamis Occidental provincial police.

He said he was “satisfied” with the efforts of the special investigation team that Monato created to solve the killing of Jumalon.

According to Gutierrez, Monato informed him that they had already obtained the identity of one of the suspects in the killing.

“This is a good starting point in any investigation,” he quoted Monato as saying.

Aid from Marcos, Romualdez

Gutierrez also went to the wake of Jumalon to personally hand over to the victim’s family the P350,000 in cash assistance from President Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“More than the expression of sympathy and the granting of financial support, what we are after here is justice for the victim through the apprehension of the identified suspect and his [cohorts] leading to the unmasking of the mastermind, if there is any,” Gutierrez said.

“This is the instruction of the President and I am glad to note that our law enforcement bodies are exerting their efforts to give justice to the Jumalons,” he said.

—WITH A REPORT FROM MARLON RAMOS