Lookout in Surigao radioman’s slay falls

File photo of broadcaster Christopher Lozada INQUIRER.net

The suspected lookout of gunmen who shot and killed radio broadcaster Christopher Lozada in Bislig City on Oct. 24 was arrested by policemen on Tuesday, marking a major breakthrough in the investigation of the latest attack on media workers.

Senior Insp. Arlene Tanzo, spokesperson for the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Lozada, said Felixberto Villocino Jr. was arrested in Barangay Tabon, also in Bislig, on Tuesday afternoon.

Seized from Villocino, 37, alias Junjun, were hand grenades and a .357-caliber gun.

On Oct. 24, Lozada, 29, had just arrived home in Barangay Coleto in Bislig with his girlfriend when a group of men aboard a van, armed with M-14 and M-16 rifles, shot him.

Lozada, host of the public affairs program “Kuskos-Batikos,” died instantly. His girlfriend, Honey Faith Indog, was wounded.

Bislig City Mayor Librado Navarro described Villocino’s arrest as a “welcome development.”

Navarro, however, raised concerns over what he said was a concerted effort by the Presidential Task Force on Media Security and the SITG Lozada to implicate him in Lozada’s murder, supposedly through Villocino.

Navarro, who has been tagged as a “person of interest” in Lozada’s death, had denied any involvement in the attack on the broadcaster. —REPORTS FROM ALLAN NAWAL, ELDIE AGUIRRE AND FRANKLIN CALIGUID