Publisher killed in Bohol province
CMFR/PHILIPPINES – NO SUSPECT has been identified in the 15 December 2011 killing of a local newspaper publisher in Trinidad City, Bohol province. Bohol is a province 640 kilometers south of Manila.
Antonio “Tony” Silagon, 73, publisher of the local tabloid Bohol Balita Daily News, was on his way to a bus terminal  when two unidentified assailants shot him. Silagon was on his way to the office of the Loay Community Multipurpose Cooperative, where he was chief executive officer.
SPO4 Edgar Chan, in charge of the investigation of the case, told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) last 6 January 2012 that one of the bullets hit Silagon in the nape and exited the left side of his face. Chan said the police are finding it difficult to identify the suspects. A witness was able to see the suspects’ faces, however.
Silagon was rushed to the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital but died in the afternoon of the same day.
The police are considering three possible motives behind Silagon’s killing: that it was work-related out of him being a publisher, that it was due to his involvement in a land dispute, or due to his alleged extra-marital affairs.
Johnny Orioque, owner and editor of Bohol Balita Daily News, believes Silagon’s killing has nothing to do with the newspaper. “Walang koneksyon sa pagiging publisher niya (It doesn’t have any connection with his being a publisher),” Orioque told CMFR last 9 January 2012. Silagon allegedly did not write for the newspaper despite his being its publisher. Orioque added that the local newspaper does not publish “hard-hitting” commentaries.
Oroquie claimed that the police told him that before Silagon died, he was able to tell the police that the shooting may have something to do with a land dispute. According to Orioque, Silagon acquired the land where his house was built through the cooperative he headed, but had been pawned to someone else. “Yung lupa na tinatayuan ng bahay niya, nakuha niya dahil sa cooperative, pero yung lupang yun nasangla din sa iba (He got the land where his house was built through the cooperative but that land was also pawned to other people),” Orioque said.
Oroquie also said that Silagon had angered some people when he became the executive officer of Loay Community Multi-purpose Cooperative. “Marami siyang nasagasaan (He angered a lot of people),” he told the CMFR.
Chan added that Silagon also used to write stories about the activities of the multipurpose cooperative.
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