Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said today that the government is doing everything possible to solve the killing of Davao radio broadcaster Fernando Lintuan and bring his assassin to justice soonest.
A consultant of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) under the Office of the President, Lintuan was gunned down Monday in Davao City minutes after he stepped out of the studios of Radio Station dxGO in downtown Davao City following his regular morning broadcast.
Lintuan is the third radio personality connected with the government to be killed this year. The two others were Vicente Sumalpong, a senior reporter of the state-owned Radio ng Bayan, who was gunned down in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi on June 25, and Carmelo Palacios.
A reporter of the Radio ng Bayan, Palacios was found dead in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija on Feb. 19.
Lintuan was the founding president of the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA).
In his regular media briefing this afternoon in Malacanang, Ermita said the government, through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), has launched a thorough investigation of the Lintuan killing.
He pointed out that he was informed by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez that the NBI already has a lead and a 15-year-old eyewitness who, being a minor, needs his parents’ permission first before he could stand in court as witness.
Ermita said he also asked the DOJ to give him a status report on the 23 cases of media personalities killed this year.
“These cases are being thoroughly investigated by authorities with the ultimate objective of resolving them immediately,” he added. (PIA Dispatch)
