Dipolog blocktimer arrested, house and radio station shot at (UPDATED)
What happened before
Tanquis, who was arrested even before he was charged with libel on 3 May 2013, World Press Freedom Day, reported that gunshots had been fired at his house last 31 May 2013. Gunshots were also fired at the radio station that used to air his program. The blocktimer’s house was shot at again on 5 June 2013, four days after the first incident.
Tanquis told CMFR in a phone interview last 3 June 2013 that shots were fired at his family’s residence at around 12:30 am last 31 May 2013. Tanquis said he was not in the house at the time. He had not been going home since 2 May 2013 “to avoid endangering my family.”
On 3 May 2013, former Dipolog City police chief Maclang interrupted Tanquis’s radio program and arrested the blocktimer at the radio station even before charging him with libel, and without a warrant of arrest. Tanquis posted bail amounting to PHP10, 000 (some USD245) the following day (4 May 2013). He has since remained in hiding.
Tanquis told CMFR that his brother-in-law and his wife’s uncle almost got hurt in the shooting incident.
“My wife’s uncle had the incident blottered with the police, but I wouldn’t have bothered. I don’t trust the police,” Tanquis told CMFR.
About 2 hours after the incident at Tanquis’ residence, the radio station that aired Tanquis’s radio program, dxFL FM 88.9, was also fired at.
In a phone interview with CMFR last 3 June 2013, dxFL FM anchor Celestine Carbonel said radio station owner Franklin Lim reported hearing gunshots at around 2:30 am. Lim’s residence is a floor below the radio station. Lim and the station technician saw the damage to the radio station only at around 6:00 am.
Tanquis hosted “Isyu Karon” (“Current Issues”), a blocktime program that aired at dxFL FM. Tanquis’s contract with dxFL FM ended with the final episode of his program last 3 June 2013. Tanquis told CMFR he had been hosting the program through phone patch since being arrested last 3 May 2013.
Carbonel and Tanquis say the two shooting incidents could be related. Both said bullet casings from a .45 caliber pistol had been found at the site of the shootings.
A few days later, Tanquis told CMFR that his house was fired at again on 5 June 2013 at around 2:15 am. He said eight empty casings from a 9mm pistol were found in the vicinity of his house and that the incident had been reported to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Tanquis’ family was still in the house when the second shooting happened. They were unhurt.
FYi
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