No suspects in Misamis Occidental broadcaster’s killing
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has no suspects in the killing of a broadcaster in Oroquieta City last 23 February 2009. Oroquieta City is the capital of Misamis Occidental, a province approximately 747 kms from Manila.
A gunman riding tandem on a motorcycle shot several times broadcaster Ernesto “Ka Ernie” Rollin along the highway in Talic Village, Oroquieta City at around 5: 30 a.m. (local time). Rollin sustained gunshot wounds in the head, chest, and arms.
The local PNP said it was looking into several angles to establish the motive for the killing.
Witnesses saw a gunman wearing a ski mask alighting from a motorcycle and shooting Rollin who was waiting for a bus ride to work. Rollin was at a waiting shed a few meters from a gas station where he usually left his motorcycle before leaving by bus to Ozamis City .
Rollin anchored Ozamis City-based radio station dxSY-AM’s morning public affairs program “Bantay Lungsod (City Watch)” which aired from 7: 30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays.
Rollin’s partner Ligaya, who was with him that morning, told Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that she heard shots while talking with a bus inspector at the waiting shed. “I thought the tires of one of the passing motorcycles had burst. I had no idea that Ernie was being shot. When I looked at where the sound had come from, I saw Ernie on the ground,” Ligaya said in Filipino.
Ligaya ran to Rollin, thinking he had tripped. When she was checking how Rollin was, the gunman shoved her from behind and fired at Rollin’s head. Police recovered four empty shells and one deformed slug of a .45 caliber gun near Rollin’s body.
The gunman immediately hopped back on the black motorcycle and fled in the direction of Ozamis City, she said. The gunman was wearing a black ski mask and black jacket, while the driver was wearing a helmet.
DxSY production manager Paul Aguaviva said Misamis Occidental Governor Loreto Leo Ocampos and the Philippine National Police created a special task force to look into the killing of Rollin. Provincial police director Superintendent Leonilo Cabug will head the task force.
Oroquieta City Police Chief Herbert Olavidez told CMFR in a phone interview that they are looking into Rollin’s alleged extramarital affairs, a property dispute, and his alleged connections with local politicians and drug lords. But they said the killing could have been work-related.
Local media colleagues described Rollin as a hard-hitting commentator. Aguaviva said there is a possibility that the killing was work-related since Rollin had stepped on the toes of several powerful personalities involved in alleged illegal activities in the province. But Aguaviva said Rollin had not told him of any threat on his life.
Asked about the possible motive behind the killing, Ligaya said she was not sure, although Rollin had told her a few months before the attack that he had received threats through his mobile phone.
The local chapter of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP, Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines have condemned the killing of Rollin and called for its speedy resolution.
Rollin worked on a commission basis and was not a regular employee of dxSY, according to station manager Alex Sy. Sy also said that Rollin had been working for dxSY since 1999, but left the station for a while to work for local politicians during the 2007 election period. Police said Rollin previously hosted programs funded by local politicians.
Rollin was supposed to renew his KBP accreditation next week.
If killed in the line of duty, Rollin will be the first Filipino journalist/media practitioner killed in the line of duty this year, and the 40th under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. CMFR has listed 77 journalists/ media practitioners killed in the line of duty since the restoration of the institutions of democracy in 1986 after 14 years of dictatorship.
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