Abante reporter shot dead in Bataan

BALANGA CITY, Bataan, Philippines–A reporter of the tabloid Abante in Bataan province was shot and killed by one of two men near her house in Barangay (village) Tuyo here on Thursday, police said.

Nerlita Ledesma, 47, was waiting for a ride to the Bataan provincial capitol, where she was a casual employee at the provincial public information office, when the gunman, armed with a .45 cal. pistol, alighted from a motorcycle and shot her at about 8 a.m.

Police said Ledesma died instantly from four bullet wounds in the chest.

Police have yet to identify the killers or establish any motive in the attack, saying people who witnessed the attack refused to talk to investigators.

This was the second attack on Ledesma after her house in Sitio San Rafael was fired on by unidentified men two years ago. No one was hurt in that attack.

Ledesma was president of the Tagnay Homeowners’ Association in Barangay Tuyo, where about 200 people have been living for years.

Upon her assumption as president of the association four years ago, Ledesma sought the legalization of the land ownership through the National Housing Authority in coordination with Leonardo David, the land owner, police said.

David said the homeowners’ association has been accredited by the NHA through the efforts of Ledesma.

Ledesma is survived by her husband, Esteban, and their only daughter, Pamela Grace, 18, a sophomore at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños in Laguna province.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines’ media safety coordinator Dabet Panelo said that if the motive for the assassination is proven to be work-related, it would raise the number of slain journalists since the restoration of democracy in 1986 to 172. She would also become the 31st journalist killed under President Benigno Aquino III’s term.

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Originally posted: 10:22 AM | Thursday, January 8th, 2015