Broadcaster shot at in Tagum City ambush

CMFR/PHILIPPINES — A broadcaster who is also Davao del Norte’s provincial information officer was shot at and hurt in an ambush by unidentified gunmen on 11 October 2019 in Tagum City.

Tagum City is 1,433 kilometers south of Manila.

Pat Lucero Pacquiao is the owner and station manager of 99.9 RPFM Tagum. He is also a commentator in the station’s morning program Balita Komentaryo sa Barangay ng Kalungsuran (BAKBAK) which airs weekdays from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m.

Pacquiao told CMFR that he was driving home from his morning program when he was ambushed. He was almost at his gate in Purok Dove, Visayan Village when he heard several gunshots. Sensing danger, he ducked and drove away. Despite the barrage of bullets, he was only grazed on his right shoulder.

Pacquiao added that the gunman quickly fled and a companion brought him to a nearby hospital where he is now recuperating. Authorities are looking at the CCTV footage of the crime scene.

Having received death threats in the past, Pacquiao believes the incident was work-related. As a commentator, he has been critical of local issues including those involving the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (TADECO) Incorporated, owned by Antonio Floirendo Jr.

This is the second attack on a media worker in Tagum City this year. In July 2019, a former cameraman of PTV Davao del Norte was shot and killed outside his home in Barangay Maniklam. Like Pacquiao, Reymund Faciol also worked for the Provincial Public Information Office. Faciol’s contract with PTV had ended the day before he was killed.