Radio journalist Rogelio Butalid lies dead outside the Radyo Natin station in Tagum City after being shot by a lone gunman. Butalid (inset) was also a village councilor. FRINSTON LIM/INQUIRER MINDANAO
TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Philippines—A regional trial court judge here has issued an arrest warrant against the suspect in the December 2013 slaying of radio block timer Rogelio “Tata” Butalid, police authorities confirmed on Thursday.
Lawmen have launched a manhunt for a certain Renster Azarcon after Judge Virginia Tejano-Ang of the 11th Regional Trial Court Branch 1 issued the warrant for his immediate arrest last Wednesday, said Chief Insp. Francis Sonza, head of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Davao del Norte.
Sonza said his office was also conducting a background check on Azarcon, including the suspect’s alleged links to influential individuals in the region.
“We’re prioritizing the manhunt against Azarcon in order to solve as soon as possible the killing of (Butalid)…Part of that efforts, we would also be updating our “Most Wanted” list and probably put him on the top three,” Sonza said in an interview over Tagum radio DXKS.
The 44-year-old Butalid was leaving Radyo Natin station along Sobrecarey St. in Magugpo Poblacion village shortly after his 9 a.m. program when shot several times by a lone gunman with a cal. 45 pistol.
Butalid was host of “Ang Kamatuoran” (The Truth), an hour-long program paid for by the National Electrification Administration-controlled faction of the Davao del Norte Electric Coop. (Daneco), which has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with rival faction allied with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
The National Union Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called the murder and the string of several attacks against mediamen just weeks before that, a “national catastrophe” and called for the immediate resolution of the cases.
A special investigation task group formed by the Philippine National Police has suspected politics to be one of the motives of the radioman’s killing as Butalid was just six months into his last term as councilman in Barangay (village) Mankilam.
Sonza said they have been checking on reports the suspect could still be in Southern Mindanao, although he declined to provide details.
Following the creation of the Task Group Butalid, police were able to get hold of a witness who identified Azarcon as the man who repeatedly shot the broadcaster-politician.
“The witness positively identified (Azarcon) based on photos from the police’s “rogue gallery” as the trigger-man,” said Sonza.
Hours after the Dec. 12 murder, Mayor Allan Rellon set aside P100,000 from his own money as bounty for the identification and arrest of the suspect or suspects. This pot soon grew and now stands at P600,000.
As this developed, the NUJP said a colleague of the slain Maramag, Bukidnon broadcaster Joas Dignos has received threatening text messages after reporting on an anti-illegal drugs operation conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Kalilangan, also in Bukidnon.
JB Deveza, NUJP media safety coordinator, said Mars Downyben Medina, program director of Radyo Abante-Maramag, claimed he began receiving threats to his life after the arrest of five suspects and the seizure of about P7 million worth of shabu in Kalilangan on Sept. 12.
Medina anchors the daily early morning news program of Radyo Abante. He also hosts a block time program of the provincial government aired every Wednesdays over four radio stations in Bukidnon.
Medina said the text messages specifically referred to the September 12 drug bust. The sender, he said, had warned him that supposed drug lords were after him for reporting on the arrests.
At about the same time, Deveza said a policeman who has been AWOL (absent without leave) also visited Medina at the station and tried to convince him to stop reporting on illegal gambling.
He said the policeman offered the broadcaster money in exchange for the station’s silence on illegal gambling operations in the province. With a report from Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao
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