ADVERTISEMENT
Media security task force condemns killing of Sorsogon radioman
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on Tuesday denounced the killing of Jobert Bercasio, a former radio reporter for local station dzMS who was shot dead on Monday evening by two unidentified men in Sorsogon.
"The government strongly condemns the heinous killing of Mr. Jobert Bercasio. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the bereaved family of the victim,” PTFoMS co-chair and Presidential Communication Operations Office secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.
Initial information from the Police Regional Office V
showed that the 39-year-old Bercasio was on his scooter near XTRM Seabreeze Homes Subdivision in Barangay Cabid-an when two unidentified men, wearing helmets and black jackets, shot him.Authorities said Bercasio was shot four times.
The suspects were able to flee the crime scene.
PTFoMS executive director undersecretary Joel Sy Egco said the agency initially presumes all forms of violence against media workers to be work-related until further investigation proves otherwise.
“We are relentless in pursuing perpetrators behind any attack against our media workers,” Egco said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Mark my words, It will just be a matter of time before the suspects of this brazen act are identified and put behind bars. We will not rest until the killers face justice,” he added.
Egco said PTFoMS is already coordinating with law enforcement agencies to identify and arrest the killers.
Earlier, Sorsogon City Police chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Benito Dipad said all angles would be looked into to determine the killers' motives.
He, however, said that based on accounts of Bercasio's colleagues at work, the journalist supposedly had some enemies.
Dipad also said that Bercasio, through online show "Balangibog," made negative comments about politicians.
Moreover, Philippine National Police spokesman Police Colonel Ysmael Yu said the Sorsogon Provincial Police Office was directed to activate a special investigation task group that will look into the incident.
Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero also condemned the killing of Bercasio.
"Any attack or killing of a journalist or a mediaman is also an attack on the very same freedom that we swore to uphold and protect," Escudero said in a Facebook post. "My sincerest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Polpog.” — Ma. Angelica Garcia/BM, GMA News