Witness in GenSan broadcaster’s slay stripped of DOJ protection

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A witness in the 2008 murder of a General Santos broadcaster has expressed concern over his security after the Department of Justice (DOJ) terminated him from the Witness Protection Program (WPP).

Bobby Flores, one of those who claimed to have seen how Insp. Redempto Acharon of the General Santos City police shot broadcaster Dennis Cuesta dead near a mall there, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the DOJ had notified him on December 2 that he would be dropped from the WPP next month.

“I did not sign it yet but verbally, I accepted their offer to give me relocation funds,” Flores said by phone.

He said he could not understand why he was being dropped from the WPP even if the case against Acharon, a nephew of South Cotabato Representative Pedro Acharon, has not been resolved yet.

“I am afraid for my security and that of my family. The suspect is still out there and he might get back to us once he learns that I am out of the WPP,” Flores said.

Cuesta was a hard-hitting commentator at Radio dxMD in General Santos City. Flores was with him when he was gunned near a mall in downtown General Santos on August 8, 2008.

Acharon, who has since been charged with murder, remains at large to this day.

Flores said he could not understand why Acharon has not been arrested even if there have been reports that he was seen in General Santos City.

“There is a warrant for his arrest,” he said.

Flores said the murder case against Acharon has been going on for seven years now but nothing was happening.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines reports that Cuesta’s case is among the many unresolved attacks against journalists in the country.  SFM