DIGOS CITY—Three years ago, broadcaster Dennis Cuesta was killed by a lone assassin near the busy Gaisano shopping center here.
The main suspect turned out to be Insp. Redempto Acharon, a nephew of then Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr.
Inspector Acharon remains at large and Gloria Cuesta, the broadcaster’s widow, said justice continues to elude the Cuesta family even if the main suspect has been identified.
Worse, she said, the repeated failure of police to take Acharon into custody has led to the murder charge against him being archived.
“All I can do right now is to offer Mass for my husband, to pray that we can get justice,” Gloria said after the Aug. 4 commemoration of Cuesta’s third death anniversary here.
Nilo Cobrado, a reporter of Bombo Radyo in Davao City, said police might have looked the other way because of pressure.
“Why did he remain at large despite the arrest order? We could only surmise,” Cobrado said.
Impunity
He said if the police indeed tried to find the gunman as officials had claimed, then it only showed they were inutile because the main suspect has been reported to be just around General Santos City.
Nilo Mercado, news stringer of GMA-Davao, said the continued failure of police to locate Acharon was saddening and has contributed to the culture of impunity in the country.
“It’s not surprising that we’re ranked by the (Committee to Protect Journalists) as the third deadliest country in the world for journalists to work in and what is the government doing to address this issue? What has it done for these families?” he said.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Cuesta’s case was only among the many unresolved attacks on journalists in the country.
Unsolved cases
Among the unsolved cases was the murder of William Yap Yu, a publisher of a local paper in Pagadian City, who was gunned down on May 19, 2000.
Norma, his daughter, said justice also remains elusive for the family.
“My father was only doing his job. He was not afraid to expose corruption and malpractice in the government so they had to silence him,” she said.
In Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, authorities were simply lukewarm in resolving the 2007 murder of radio reporter Vicente Sumalpong, journalists there said.
Dianne Amilasan, of Radyo Natin, said even the transfer of Sumalpong’s case to the National Bureau of Investigation did not help in the quest for justice for the slain journalist.
Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary general, said Sumalpong’s case is typical of a media killing that took place in an area so remote that it barely caught the attention of media men and officials in Manila.
The killings of media men peaked under the Arroyo administration.