BACOLOD: A HERO'S WELCOME FOR SLAIN BROADCASTER
BACOLOD CITY, November 18, 2004 (STAR) THE SOUTHERN BEAT By Rolly Espina - Journalists in Negros Occidental turned out en masse to give a hero’s welcome to Bombo Kalibo manager Herson "Boy" Hinolan when his body arrived at the Bacolod reclamation port the other day.
Boy’s remains were escorted to the Iloilo pier by Panay journalists led by NUJP members, headed by Nestor Burgos, and the Iloilo Press Club, led by president Fernan Gonzales. Earlier, at 4 p.m., different media groups led by Negros Press Club president Dolly Yasa, staged a protest action at the Palace of Justice fronting the Bacolod City Hall. They all wore red and black bands seeking a stop to the murders of mediamen. The group included the Congress of Active Media Practitioners led by its president, Ely de los Santos, the COBRA-ANS with Edgar Cadagat, NUJP Negros headed by Jules Miraveles, and the Liga Peryodista convenor group.
The cortege made a brief stopover at the Bacolod Bombo Radyo station on its way to the residence of Hinolan’s mother in Talisay City’s Rizal street. Bombo Bacolod station manager Jerson Canal led the group that received Hinolan’s remains. His body will remain in Talisay for two days. After that, it will be brought back to Iloilo and then to Roxas City where he will be buried upon the request of his wife, Aphrodite. Yesterday, Iloilo’s tri-media practitioners met Hinolan’s remains in Zarraga town, 16 kilometers north of Iloilo City. They then escorted his remains to the Iloilo port. Tomorrow, Hinolan’s remains will be brought back to Roxas City. And a Mass will be held at the Sta. Teresita Church.
Five witnesses
PNP Western Visayas director George Aliño said last Tuesday that five witnesses have surfaced to help police identify the assassins of Boy Hinolan. The witnesses reportedly gave police descriptions of the possible perpetrators and their lookouts. Hinolan was slain by a lone gunman inside the Kalibo carnival last Saturday night. Aklan provincial police director Ode Magayanes said two police artists are working on the sketches of the assassins. "We will publish those sketches so that the public can help pinpoint the assassins," Aliño said. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 6, the Kalibo PNP and the crime laboratory and intelligence units have joined the investigation into the Hinolan killing. Aliño vowed the police will not rest in its investigation into the Hinolan killing until the perpetrators are identified and put behind bars.
This developed as Bacolod broadcaster Edmund Aspero told colleagues that an unidentified man had been following him. He was advised to report this to the police which are still investigating the shooting of the car of another broadcaster, Eric Tenerifie, last Sunday. NUJP chairwoman Salvacion Espina-Varona said Hinolan was the 11th journalist slain this year. That is considered the worst record for the country which ranked second only to war-torn Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists. Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon said he was saddened by the continued attacks on Filipino mediamen. In the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlalawigan, board members Greg Gasatay and Homer Bais, former Bombo anchormen, filed a resolution strongly condemning the Hinolan killing, calling it a cowardly act to silence mediamen from making exposés and exercising their fundamental right to information which the media provides. The International Federation of Journalists, with 500,000 members worldwide, said it was dismayed by the recent spate of killings.
"The government of the Philippines can no longer stand by and let these journalists be slaughtered in record numbers," stated IFJ president Christopher Warren. Joseph Lucero, PCL-Iloilo secretary general, observed that while some sectors are critical of the manner by which some journalists carry out their profession, silencing journalists through the barrel of a gun is absolutely condemnable. He also cited the killings not only of journalists, but also of judges, and said these are "anathema to a democratic society."
Death Of Another Crusader
Dr. Patricio Tan, president and director of Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital in Bacolod, passed away last Tuesday afternoon at the Chinese Medical Center Hospital in Manila. He died of complications after his surgery five days earlier. Tan’s death plunged Bacolod into gloom. Actually, he was known as a surgeon who had helped so many Negrenses, including many mediamen. But Tan was also known as a fearless crusader against graft and corruption, having been at the helm of the Provincial Graftwatch for a long time. Tan, according to members of the Circulo de Bacolod with whom I was when the message of his demise was texted, was known mostly for his generosity in treating patients for free. Girlie Belzunce, former Valladolid mayor, was on the verge of tears when she reported the text message about Tan’s passing away.
Immediately, the group prayed for the repose of his soul. Belzunce admitted that Tan had operated on her twice for free. So did other members of the group which included Ivy Visitacion and Mila Mayo. It was Dr. Maritel Ledesma who texted me about Tan’s demise shortly after Belzunce received hers. Tan was a legendary figure. He was a director of the Riverside Medical Center from 1981 to 1998. He was also a regent of the Philippine College of Surgeons, chairman of the Philippine Board of Surgery, and president of the Philippine chapter of the American College of Surgeon. Tan was also the president of the Rotary Club of Bacolod and later district governor of Rotary International District 385 and Rotary International counselor for Southeast Asia. He was also a Papal awardee and an Ang Banwahanon awardee of Bacolod City in 1978. He won the President Corazon Aquino Award in 1988, the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Award and the University of San Agustin Centennial Award. Among mediamen, Tan was known for his outreach. He usually operated on them and gave his professional services for free. He was certainly a major loss to the Bacolod community. But he will always be remembered by many whom he had helped.
NFA Sugar-Buying
Last Tuesday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave the go-signal to the National Food Authority to intervene in sugar-buying to help stabilize prices, according to Sugar Regulatory Administrator James Ledesma.
President Arroyo approved the NFA buying of sugar at P680 per Lkg. (millgate) and also gave producers the option to buy back the sugar when the NFA stocks, classified as "O" or reserved sugar, is released to the domestic market. This is a better program than last year’s, Ledesma said. The reason: producers will be able to profit from their sugar. Initially, the President ordered the NFA to set aside P550 million for the sugar-buying program. This, however, will be expanded to P1 billion if the need arises, Ledesma said. Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella made the presentation on the plight of the sugar industry to the President and the Cabinet. He also cited the need for NFA intervention to stabilize sugar prices.
Among the Cabinet men present were Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, NFA Administrator Jed Tan and Secretary Luis Lorenzo, chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines and Quedancor. The President, however, advised sugarmen to come up with a comprehensive and long-term plan, pointing out that the NFA cannot intervene every year to bail them out of the price crisis. Actually, the situation developed because of the very success of the sugar industry in meeting the production problem. Because of the vigorous promotion of higher-yielding sugarcane varieties plus the intensive technology transfer to farmers by the Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation (PHILSURIN), production zoomed by as much as 15 percent to the point that supply outpaced demand. The latter also started diminishing.
The industry is expected to ship out a total of 250,000 metric tons of sugar to the world market, including the United States, this year.
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ADDENDUM:
Somehow, despite the gloom caused by the assassination of Boy Hinolan, the Friday launching of the Dinagyang Festival seemed to have been overlooked in Western Visayas. But Dinagyang preparations are ongoing, with the Dinagyang Foundation Inc. spearheading preparations in coordination with Iloilo City Mayor Gerry Treñas and the city council. I’ll write about that later.
Cop nabbed for slay of radioman By Teddy Molina, Christina Mendez and Edith Regalado The Philippine Star 11/18/2004
A senior police officer, who was once named an outstanding policeman, has been arrested for the July killing of an Ilocos Norte radio broadcaster, police said yesterday.
SPO4 Apolonio Medrano, who was nabbed last Tuesday, was tagged as the one who shot Roger Mariano, of dzJC Bombo Radyo, at close range in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte last July 31. Medrano, who served as an intelligence officer in the Ilocos Norte police before he was assigned to the Cordillera regional police, was named among the outstanding policemen during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. In another development, Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, chief of the military’s Sulu task force, said they have identified the killer of photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag as a member of the urban terrorist group of the extremist Abu Sayyaf.
Dema-ala said Lumawag, photo editor of Davao City-based news agency MindaNews, could have been mistaken as a military intelligence agent or was killed last Friday because of the documentary on corruption which he and MindaNews chief Carolyn Arguillas were pursuing in Jolo, Sulu.
Some 300 journalists took to the streets of Davao City yesterday to condemn the spate of killings of journalists throughout the country. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines spearheaded the march. Philippine National Police chief Director General Edgar Aglipay presented Medrano and four suspects in Tuesday’s killing of Marcos, Ilocos Norte Mayor Rogelio Pambid to the media yesterday. The four were identified as Mordel Sagudang, Rodel Saldivar, Amado Ranelo and Balbin Gayban. Probers are confirming reports that Medrano belongs to a private armed group which politicians tap to carry out killings. Sagudang has admitted that he and his fellow suspects were hired assassins, said Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas, intelligence chief of the Ilocos regional police.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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