Dumaguete broadcaster Edmund Sestoso dies a day after gun attack

DUMAGUETE CITY — After hours of fighting for his life, radio broadcaster Edmund Sestoso died Tuesday afternoon, a day after he was shot near his boarding house in Barangay Daro by masked gunmen on a motorcycle. He was 51.

Sestoso died of multiple organ failure and shock brought by his injuries, his attending physicians at the Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) said. He was declared dead at 3:25 p.m.

Doctors operated on the five gunshot wounds in his chest and lower limbs Monday afternoon. Sestoso survived the operation; however, his system only relied on life support and he had lost a great amount of blood.

Mixed emotions of anger, devastation, and disappointment wrapped the scenes at the SUMC, where Sestoso's family and friends from the media were eagerly waiting for news about his health.

Sestoso's death came exactly a year after he became the main anchor of the morning news and public affairs program "Tug-anan Sa Power 91" over local radio station dyGB 91.7 FM.

He was shot by unidentified assailants Monday morning, just as he was about to disembark from the tricycle he was riding on to his way home after his radio program.

Police are still probing the incident, and have yet to determine the motive of the killing as of press time. They are still tracking Sestoso's last phone call, where he was reportedly conversing with a Tagalog-speaking individual.

Mayor Felipe Remollo, in a statement Tuesday, said he has mandated authorities to "go an extra mile" into the investigation of Sestoso's shooting.

News of his passing, and even of his shooting Monday, shocked Dumagueteños, particularly his fellow colleagues in the media.

In an official statement, Dumaguete Press Club president Juancho Gallarde said he condemns the shooting "in the highest possible terms."

"This is an affront to press freedom. Everybody, not just members of the fourth estate should be worried about [this] because of its implications. If we are silenced, who would take the cudgels of bringing to fore ills in government as well as the illegals?" he said.

Gallarde, in an interview on Monday, noted that this was the first time in recent years that a member of the Dumaguete press was shot.

Several local news outlets have taken a stand as well. Station dyMD, through its manager Florence Baesa, said it condemns Sestoso's murder, while station dyYD also asked listeners to pray for the broadcaster's bereaved family.

Members of the Dumaguete press are also set to make a unified reaction to Sestoso's death. — BM, GMA News