Photo-journalist killed in Metro Manila

A Manila-based photojournalist was shot dead by unidentified men on 16 May in Caloocan City, just north of Manila.

Albert Orsolino, 43, a photojournalist working for the Manila-based tabloid Saksi Ngayon (Witness Today), died from a lone gunshot wound after two unidentified men shot his car several times at close range.

Police said Orsolino was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital, moments after the victim fell unconscious at a gasoline station while running away from his car.

The assailants immediately fled the crime scene aboard an auxiliary utility vehicle (AUV). The AUV was later found abandoned along another road in Caloocan City.

Police are still searching the suspects’ possible whereabouts.

Five empty shells were recovered at the crime scene, while two bullet holes were seen on the driver’s side of the victim’s car.

A personal grudge could be the motive behind Orsolino’s murder, according to an initial investigation by the local police.

Orsolino has had an encounter with alleged police asset Frank Sabe, who was killed in 2005. Police said Sabe’s relatives accused Orsolino as the mastermind for the murder.

Sabe’s relatives allegedly said they would get back at Orsolino before Sabe’s first death anniversary on 18 May, just two days after Orsolino was killed in the ambush.

One of his colleagues, who wished not to be identified, said that Orsolino used to expose the “illegal activities” of the said police asset, when he was still working as a journalist for another tabloid.

Orsolino, who recently covered the Palace beat, was the former president of the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela areas) Press Corps and a member of the local council in their area.

Orsolino’s slay could be the second work-related killing this year, just more than a month after Tarlac Profile’s Orlando Mendoza. ###

Comments are closed.