Binoya, a radio commentator and local station manager with Radyo Natin,
was gunned down outside the port city General Santos, on the southern
island of Mindanao, according to local news reports. Binoya was known
for his pointed political commentaries.
Binoya was on his way home in the afternoon when two gunmen on a motorcycle
ambushed him along a highway on the outskirts of the city. The assailants
chased down Binoya, who was also riding a motorcycle, and shot him
several times from behind. The shots killed him instantly, according
to news reports. The gunmen then fled the scene.
General Santos Police Chief Willie Dangane said that Binoya had made
enemies among politicians in the southern town of Malungon, where
his station is based, and that he had been beaten the week before
his killing, according to The Associated Press.
In early August, the General Santos City Prosecutor’s Office found
“probable cause for murder qualified by treachery and evident premeditation”
against local political leader Ephraim “Toto” Englis and identified
two other individuals allegedly involved in the killing, according
to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a local
press freedom organization.
Englis and a second suspect, Alfonso Roquero, surrendered to local
police on August 23, and Dangane initiated the filing of murder charges
against the two, according to The Philippine Star. In his broadcasts,
Binoya had accused Englis of bribery, according to CMFR. Englis and
Roquero denied involvement in the slaying.