Agusan radio commentator killed in Surigao Sur ambush

BUTUAN CITY- A radio commentator was killed in an ambush in Surigao del Sur province by motorcycle-riding men, a belated police report said Sunday. Caraga Police Regional Information Office said Datu Roy Quijada Gallego was shot and killed around 5:15 p.m. on October 14, along the national highway in Sitio Mamprasanon, Barangay Banahaw in Lianga town. The Lianga Police suspected the assailants was trailing the victim, who was on his motorbike, until he reach the portion of the national highway were he was gunned down. Gallego sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body and was declared dead at the Lianga District Hospital. Recovered from the crime scene were three spent shells of cal-.45 handgun, one slug, a bag, a mobile phone and a single motorcycle Rusi brand. Lianga Police investigators are still conducting probe to identify the perpetrators, the report said. Relatives and family members of Gallego, who is also a Manobo tribal leader, are crying for justice. Gallego, with Manobo name Datu Bagtikan, was president of the Bayanihan Council of Datus (BACODA) Caraga Region. He used to have a radio commentary and public affairs programs, first at Butuan City’s AM radio station DXJM and FM station DXSF in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. Datu Bagtikan’s wife Elisa Gallego and daughter Lolly told GMA News Online they wanted that justice be served to their loved one. Elisa said she suspected the murder of her husband might have something to do with his stand against oppression and neglect of the lumad people by the government, particularly the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP). The BACODA had filed complaints against several officials of the NCIP, Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences (MGB), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) over the giving of permits to small-scale mining and large-scale mining operators in protected areas in the region. The group said mining activities violate indigenous people’s rights. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News