2 nabbed for murder of Bataan journalist

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Police have arrested two men in connection with the Jan. 8 murder of a female tabloid reporter in Bataan province.

Senior Supt. Rodel Sermonia, Bataan police chief, said the first suspect in the killing of Nerlita Ledesma, Abante correspondent in Bataan, was arrested in Samal town on Friday.

The other suspect was arrested in Abucay town on Saturday afternoon.

Sermonia withheld their names but said they would be charged with murder.

Ledesma, 47, was gunned down in Balanga City by one of two motorcycle-riding men near her house in Balanga City.

In a news conference on Friday, police officials said Ledesma may have been killed for her role in a land dispute in Balanga, and not because of her work as Abante correspondent or as casual employee of the Bataan public information office.

Police investigations have centered on the rivalry between the Tagnai Homeowners Association (THOA) and the Holy Land Homeowners Association (HLHA) which have been feuding over a 5-hectare lot in Barangay Tuyo in Balanga, Sermonia said.

Ledesma was the president of THOA, which was accredited by the National Housing Authority (NHA). It was during her presidency when power lines were put up and roads were built to benefit 200 residents of the disputed lot in Sitio San Rafael, according to some sources in the community.

The sources volunteered information on condition that they would not be named for their protection.

The sources said the disputed lot has been processed by the NHA for distribution to beneficiaries, many of them belonging to THOA.

The property was owned by Leonardo David, who reclaimed the lot after he pawned it to another resident, Herminia Bernal, for more than P3 million, according to reports.

Sources also claimed that THOA was reeling from a leadership dispute. Last year, members complained that THOA had been strict about collecting P411 in monthly dues from the San Rafael residents.

Sermonia on Friday said Ledesma’s collections were remitted directly to David.

In Olongapo City, members of media organizations lit candles on Friday to protest the latest attacks on journalists in Bataan and in France.

Led by the Olongapo-Subic chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), they gathered at the Marikit Park in Olongapo at 6 p.m. for the candle lighting to denounce what they described as “unabated attacks on media practitioners,” such as the murdered staff of French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and Ledesma.

“We strongly condemn the latest murder committed against our colleagues and we also extend our sincere sympathies to their families,” the NUJP said in a statement.

“While the real motive for the attack has yet to be established, Ledesma’s death clearly reflects the culture of violence against practicing journalists in the Philippines, which remains to be a very dangerous place for journalists,” the statement said. Tonette Orejas, Greg Refraccion and Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon