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Presidential task force on media security condemns Denora slay, says probe in full swing


The Presidential Task Force on Media Security on Friday condemned the killing of journalist Dennis Denora, who was shot dead by riding-in-tandem suspects in Panabo City, Davao del Norte on Thursday.

“The Presidential Task Force on Media Security is deeply saddened and condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the killing of newspaper publisher Dennis D. Denora, a member of the Davao Region Multi-Media Group at about 2 pm (on Thursday) in Panabo City, Davao del Norte,” the task force said in a statement.

Police reports said Denora was on-board his vehicle when the incident happened near a public market in Panabo City. 

Denora, who is a reporter for SunStar and a publisher of a local newspaper, sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the head while his driver sustained two gunshot wounds in his right hand.

Authorities recovered three fired bullets and one fired cartridge case of suspected caliber .45 pistol from the crime scene.

The presidential task force said the details of the crime “are still sketchy” but follow-up investigations are leaning toward “the presumption that the death of Mr. Denora is related to his work as a journalist.”

Nonetheless, executive director Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco instructed the Philippine National Police “to leave no stone unturned in the conduct of their investigation and submit an immediate report on the progress of this probe 24 hours.”

Egco issued the directive to Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management director Superintendent Elmo Francis Sarona, Police Regional Office 11 director Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, and Davao del Norte Police chief Senior Superintendent Marcial Mariano Magistrado IV.

In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Administrative Order No. 1, series of 2016 which created the Presidential Task Force on Violations of the Right of Life, Liberty and Security of the Members of the Media.

The task force is composed of the secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of National Defense, the Solicitor General, the chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and PNP, the director of the National Bureau of Investigation, and the executive director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee.” — MDM, GMA News

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