PNoy confident Sumera killing will be solved

(Updated 5:22 p.m.) President Benigno Simeon Aquino III expressed confidence on Friday that the killing of broadcaster Marlina ‘Len’ Flores-Sumera will be solved at the soonest time possible. In an interview with Palace reporters, Aquino said that based on the report given to him by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the suspect has already been identified and is now subject of a manhunt. "Given that, given also the cooperation of witnesses, I am confident that we will able to bring this perpetrator to justice," he said after attending the biennial convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Pasay City. Sumera, an anchor with dzME radio station, was shot dead near her home in Malabon City as she was preparing to go to dzME studios to host a public service program. Although she was rushed to the Valenzuela General Hospital, she was pronounced dead on arrival. Land dispute In a text message to reporters, Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said Special Task Group Sumera has been activated by the Northern Police District to investigate the case. Bacalzo said land dispute is a possible motive in the killing as Sumera was the overall president of the Silonian, Sitio Rosal, Interior Tongco and the Saloma Neighborhood Association with an estimated land area of 4.2 hectares. The land is considered a public estate under the National Housing Authority and is about to be developed for road widening, reblocking, chopping and drainage improvement. It is being contested by the KASAMA association led by Emma Nuqui and Julieta Lazaro whose motion for temporary restraining order is pending before the Malabon Regional Trial Court Branch 74. The parties’ last court appearance was on Monday morning, March 21. For her part, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she has ordered Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, head of the task force on extrajudicial and media killings, to include Sumera's murder in its investigations. De Lima admitted that media killings are more difficult to solve than extrajudicial killings of left-leaning activists because there are more possible motives for murder. "Ang media killings mas mahirap i-solve kasi iba-iba ang nagiging motive. Political, personal, work related," she said. "There are really several cases where it turned out personal ang nagiging motive." Solved? Meanwhile, Herminio Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), said that based on PNP reports, some recent media killings are all considered "solved." Coloma was referring to the cases of:

Gerardo Ortega (killed Jan. 24, 2011) which is now in court, with five suspects in police custody and two masterminds have been identified;

Jose Daguio (shot dead July 3, 2010) which has also been filed in court, one suspect arrested while another suspect found dead; and

Miguel Belen, (shot July 9, 2010, succumbed to gunshot wounds July 31) also in court with one suspect now in police custody. The Philippines has been branded by international media support groups as among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, especially following the Nov. 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in Maguindanao province, a crime blamed on the powerful Ampatuan clan. — with Jam Sisante/RSJ/MRT, GMA News