Dindo Generoso, a news anchor at dyEM 96.7 FM Bai Radio, was shot at 7:00 a.m. on November 7, 2019, by two motorcycle-riding assailants in the city of Dumaguete on the archipelagic nation’s central Negros Island while driving his car to host his regular morning radio program, news reports said.
Generoso sustained eight gunshot wounds to his head and body, and was declared dead on arrival at the Sillman University Medical Center, the Philippine Star reported. Police found seven expended shells from a .45 caliber handgun at the crime scene, Rappler reported.
Authorities announced murder charges against four people, including a current and a former police officer, according to CNN Philippines.
Police on November 8 filed murder charges against retired police officer Glenn Corsame and alleged driver Teddy Salaw for their alleged roles in the attack, according to CNN Philippines, which quoted Negros Oriental police chief Julian Entoma. The report said the two suspects were arrested the night of November 7.
Police also filed murder charges against Roger Rubio, a police officer, and Tomasino Aledro, a businessman, both of whom were still at large, the CNN Philippines report said.
Entoma said he dispatched a crack team to hunt and arrest Rubio, the alleged gunman in the crime, according to local reports. The suspects were identified by police through CCTV footage of the crime scene, other local reports said.
Entoma said police had not yet determined the motive for the killing, the Philippine Star reported.
Central Visayas police chief Brigadier General Valeriano de Leon told Rappler that police investigators were pursuing leads related to Generoso’s broadcast journalism and a family land dispute.
Joel Egco, executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, a government body tasked with resolving the cases of killed journalists, told CPJ by email that Generoso’s radio program dealt with development issues and was financed by the local government.
Egco said that Generoso’s killing may have been related to local politics, including a rivalry between the city’s mayor and a local congressman over the closure of a city project.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, a local media advocacy group that investigates attacks on the press, told CPJ by email that it considered Generoso’s killing to be related to his journalism until proven otherwise.