Suspect in killing of radio broadcaster in Surigao del Sur arrested after six years

MEMBERS OF the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested on 18 August 2015 the suspect in the killing of a provincial radio broadcaster in Caloocan City, Metro Manila.

Joel Sabatin Namoc was arrested by the police on the strength of a warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court in Surigao del Sur in connection with the killing of radio broadcaster Godofredo Linao in July 2009.  According to the CIDG website, Namoc was number 13 in the Most Wanted Person list, Regional level in Surigao del Sur with a Php90,000 monetary reward on his head.

CMFR previously reported that Godofredo Linao Jr. was shot by a gunman four times along the provincial road in Purok 1, Barobo town in the province of Surigao del Sur on 27 July 2009. The gunman was accompanied by another man who was waiting on a motorcycle approximately 20 meters from where the shooting happened.

Linao hosted the blocktime public affairs program Straight to the Point with Romy Santiago over Radyo Natin (Our Radio) in Bislig City. According to Radyo Natin station manager Mario Alviso, the program was sponsored by Vice Governor Librado Navarro of Surigao del Sur, for whom Linao also worked as a spokesperson.

In Philippine broadcast practice, a blocktimer is an individual who purchases “blocks” of TV or radio time for sponsorship. Among those journalists killed in the Philippines since 2002 are 43 blocktimers and “volunteer” practitioners who are not paid by the TV or radio station where they have programs.

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