TAGUM CITY – Police arrested one of two suspects in the murder of a newspaper publisher in Davao del Norte’s Panabo City, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) said.
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It said Richard Posas Bolastig was being linked to the ambush of Dennis Denora, the publisher of the weekly Trends and Times, on June 7, 2018. Bolastig and another accomplice, who is still at large, are facing criminal charges in Panabo City.
Bolastig was tracked down by the police in his hideout and eventually arrested just recently, according to Lt. Col. Verna Cabuhat, the acting city police chief.
Joel Egco, Executive Director of PTFoMS, explained that the arrest of Bolastig – who is now at the Tagum City Jail - is a validation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s unbroken promise to end the plague of violence against media workers by bringing perpetrators behind bars.
“We assure our media workers that the so-called culture of impunity in the Philippines has finally ended with the creation of the Task Force by President Duterte. PTFoMS is living proof of the government’s pledge to safeguard press freedom,” Egco said.
It was unclear whether the police or the PTFoMS have identified the mastermind in Denora’s murder.
With Bolastig’s capture, Egco said the PTFoMS has resolved 50 cases of media killings with the conviction of accused Leonardo Banaag, Jr. for the murder of broadcaster Jovelito Agustin. This brings to 67 the total number of suspects that were found guilty by the courts for the killing of journalists, with sentences ranging from reclusion temporal to life imprisonment.
PTFoMS was created by Duterte in 2016 with a dedicated mandate to resolve all media killings in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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