Two Arrested in Broadcaster’s Slay

Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR)
May 30, 2003

Two men believed to be bodyguards of a local politician were arrested on 22 March 2003 in connection with the killing of a community broadcaster in Lucena City, Quezon, central Philippines.

Press reports quoted Senior Supt. Ricardo Padilla, Quezon police director and head of “Task Force Polly” as saying Eulogio Patulay and his brother Eric, reportedly bodyguards of Lucena city politicians Ramon Talaga, Jr. and Romano Franco Talaga, were positively identified by an eyewitness to the killing of DWTI-AM announcer Apolinario “Polly” Pobeda last 17 May 2003.

“Task Force Polly” is composed of elements of the provincial police, the Criminal and Detection Group, the military, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Thirty-five-year old Pobeda, one of the three hosts of a morning news program called “Nosi Ba Lasi” (“Who Are They?”) over ConAmor Broadcasting System’s DWTI-AM radio, was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle while he was on his way to the station on his own motorcycle at around 5:45 AM. He was shot six times.

The Patulay brothers, Padilla was quoted saying in the reports, are members of the security force of Mayor Ramon Talaga, Jr. and his son, Councilor Romano Franco Talaga. The third suspect, the Manila newspaper “Today” quoted the police as saying, “has fled to nearby Laguna province.”

Another Manila newspaper, the “Philippine Daily Inquirer,” said “the arresting team recovered .45 and 9 mm. pistols from the two suspects.” ConAmor Broadcasting System owner Joselito Ojeda also told CMFR in a 29 May phone interview with the CMFR that the police had recovered identification cards and other paraphernalia from the suspects certifying that they work for the Talagas as security guards.

Padilla, news reports said, refused to give other details on the arrests. The police also refused to allow the media to interview the suspects who have been placed under police custody, “Today” said. The paper quoted Padilla as saying that the police is “preparing to file murder charges against the suspects.”

The Patulay brothers, the Manila newspapers said, did not resist arrest, but denied killing Pobeda.

“Today” said Mayor Talaga admitted that Eulogio, one of the suspects, “had provided security to his son, Councilor Talaga.” Councilor Talaga was also interviewed by the paper and confirmed “that the Patulay brothers had been his occasional ‘guides’ four times in the past especially at nighttime.” Councilor Talaga, who is eyeing the congressional seat for the second district of Quezon in the 2004 elections, initiated a resolution condemning Pobeda’s killing and urged police to resolve the case quickly.

Too young to die

“It was hard for us since Polly was too young to die, he was only 35 years old,” Pobeda’s elder sister Divina said in Filipino when CMFR went to Pobedas’ wake in Lucena city.

CMFR went to Lucena city on 19 May 2003 as the quick response team sent by the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Inc. (FFFJ) to sympathize with Pobeda’s family and to look into other details of the murder.

While Divina saw Pobeda’s body only in the wake, Pobeda’s wife, Rowena, was able to see the bloodied victim barely breathing on the site where he was shot.

“Someone went to our house and told me that Polly had been shot, so I rushed to the scene and saw him lying on the ground. No one had brought him to the hospital. It was only when I arrived that Polly was taken to the Quezon Memorial Hospital,” she lamented in Filipino.

Rowena said Pobeda used to have a bodyguard but that after going on vacation, the bodyguard was not able to return to work. Pobeda had kept a .38 revolver for his protection since. One of the assailants had alighted from his motorcycle after wounding Pobeda, and shot Pobeda again using the broadcaster’s own gun.

According to Divina, she had asked Pobeda to blunt his criticism of certain government officials because of the death threats he had been receiving. “But he just said, he couldn’t do anything about it; it was part of his job.”

“I think Polly was killed because of his work as a broadcaster,” Divina said.

Her view was echoed by Pobeda’s wife, Rowena. “My husband was killed because he exposed the wrongdoings of the government,” Rowena said.

Many of Pobeda’s colleagues, including Ojeda, also believe that Pobeda was killed because of his critical commentaries in his program.

Rowena said the residents of Lucena City were shocked and saddened by Pobeda’s brutal death.

“He was loved here, (and) many people listened to his program,” she said. “Polly will be sorely missed by his listeners,” Rowena added, but said that his family missed him most.

Ojeda vs. Talaga

The Pobeda ambush-slay has further deepened the animosity between former political allies Ojeda (owner of ConAmor Broadcasting System) and Mayor Talaga. Both camps have been accusing each other of knowing who Pobeda’s killers are.

Ojeda was quoted by the “Daily Tribune” as saying “that it was possible that the mayor of Lucena city may have knowledge of the murder” since Mayor Talaga was a “constant subject of Pobeda’s daily tirade over his radio program.”

The same report reported Mayor Talaga’s claim that Ojeda could have had Pobeda killed since Pobeda was allegedly merely being used by his handlers to attack the mayor.

In a “Philippine Daily Inquirer” report, Mayor Talaga was also quoted as accusing Ojeda “of being involved in the killing.”

“Mr. Ojeda made Polly a sacrificial lamb to further agitate my constituents and totally ruin my personal life and political career,” the paper quoted Talaga.

Ojeda, in the same article, denied Talaga’s allegation that he was behind Pobeda’s killing.

“What will I gain? Come on, tell me, what will I gain?” Ojeda told the “Philippine Daily Inquirer”.

“I have no political interest here in Lucena City and even in the second congressional district. I have plans to reenter politics but only as far as aspiring again for the mayoral post of Mulanay,” Ojeda added.

Later, in a “Today” report, Ojeda accused Talaga of being the “’mastermind’ behind the ambush-slay of Pobeda.”

In his interview with the CMFR, Ojeda said his main suspect for the killing is Mayor Talaga.

Talaga and Ojeda were said to have been the best of political allies since both belonged to the same political party. During the recall election in 2000, when Talaga was fighting with then incumbent Mayor Bernard Tagarao for the mayoral post, DWTI-AM was used by Talaga for his political propaganda.

Talaga told the “Philippine Daily Inquirer” that he paid Ojeda P200,000 ($4,000) monthly for his use of DWTI for his political propaganda during the recall elections. Ojeda was also quoted as saying “that all transactions and money payment between his station and Talaga during the recall election campaign were all supported with corresponding documents like contracts and receipts.”

After the recall election, the relationship turned sour. Last 4 October 2002, Ojeda accused Talaga of “harassment and political vendetta” in connection with the closure of the company’s radio and television stations by the city government.

ConAmor later continued operations on a mobile vehicle. “Right now, we’re using a generator to continue operating,” Ojeda told CMFR.

Mayor Talaga told CMFR that Ojeda was using Pobeda to “blackmail me.”

Both Pobeda and Ojeda’s criticisms “were just for the sake of money,” the mayor said. “It is not in line with the proper practice of the code of broadcasting. They are AC-DC journalists,” he explained.

Chay Florentino-Hofileña, in her book “News for Sale: The corruption of the Philippine Media” (Quezon City, 1998), defined AC-DC, or “Attack-Collect-Defend-Collect,” “a kind of journalism where the reporter attacks a person in order to collect money from the person’s rival or enemy. The same journalist then defends the person originally attacked, also for a fee.”

In his interview with CMFR, Ojeda flatly denied Talaga’s allegations that he and Pobeda are AC-DC journalists.

“We always side with the opposition. If we are AC-DC broadcasters, then we would have sided with the administration, where there is more money and easier ways of getting that money,” Ojeda explained.

FFFJ statement

In a press statement last 20 May, the FFFJ strongly condemned the killing of Pobeda. According to the CMFR database, Pobeda was the 55^th journalist to be killed in the line of duty since 1961. Since democracy was restored in 1986, he is the 38^th journalist to be killed in the line of duty.

The FFFJ noted with alarm “the increasing frequency with which journalists in the Philippines are being killed.” Pobeda was the second journalist killed this year. Pobeda’s murder happened less than three weeks after another motorcyle tandem gunned down another broadcaster in Legazpi City, Albay.

Last 28 April, John Villanueva, Jr., 53, announcer of radio station DZGB in Albay, was shot dead by still unidentified gunmen in Camalig, Albay. The following day, Davao City radio broadcaster Juan “Jun” Pala survived a second assassination attempt.

“It is ironic to note that only last May 7, in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day May 3, the FFFJ held a press conference to launch a campaign involving media organizations in a countdown on the number of days since the killer of a Mindanao journalist, Edgar Damalerio, escaped from police custody,” the FFFJ said.

Damalerio, 32, was shot dead May 13, 2002 near the Pagadian City Hall and police headquarters. Until today, his case remains unsolved.

The FFFJ, composed of media NGOs and concerned individuals, represents a national effort to protect journalists in crisis and works in coordination with the international groups mentioned above, providing them with information on the cases in the Philippines which they follow up and take up as cases for special advocacy.

The members of the FFFJ are Center for Community Journalism and Development (CCJD), Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Philippine Press Institute (PPI), and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Ermin Garcia, Jr., Sunday Punch publisher, and Danilo Gozo, publisher of Philippine News.