Radio manager receives threatening text

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A manager and franchise owner of a radio station in Hinoba-an town, Negros Occidental received a threatening message a few weeks after he filed a civil suit against the town mayor.

Hinoba-an is approximately 581 kilometers southeast of Manila.

Segundino “Dino Bryan” Taladico of dySL Radyo Natin-Hinoba-an received a text message last 13 April 2013 saying that a gunman had been hired to kill him. The text message from +639288742534 read “Hoy Dino! Gintigan-an kna hitman, ti halong ka guid olwis! 1, 2 ka lang tuwad ka na.  (We already hired a gunman for you so take care always. It will only take one or two shots to kill you.)” CMFR tried to contact the sender, but calls and text messages were unanswered.

Taladico told CMFR in a 19 April 2013 interview that the threat may be connected to a civil suit he filed against Mayor Maria Teresa Bilbao for closing down his radio station last March 2013.  Employees from the local government of Hinoba-an padlocked the building occupied by dySL for supposedly failing to secure a business permit since 2010.

Taladico denied Mayor Maria Teresa Bilbao’s accusation that his station was operating without a business permit. He added that his 2013 application is being ignored by the mayor. (More information on the alleged illegal closure here.)

Taladico told CMFR that the order to close down dySL may be due to its airing  blocktime programs sponsored by the mayor’s political rival. However, Bilbao,  in a 7 March 2013 report by The Visayan Daily Star “denied that politics was the reason for the shutdown.” (http://www.visayandailystar.com/2013/March/07/topstory8.htm)

The civil suit is currently pending before the Kabangkalan City Regional Trial Court. The court has yet to call for a preliminary hearing, Taladico said.