Shot Radioman Received Death Threats, Incurred Ire of Gambling Lords

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Nilo Labares might have known that his days were numbered.

More popularly known as “Babayeng Bagol” in Cagayan de Oro City, Labares has been receiving a number of death threats on his cell phone weeks before the tragic incident on Thursday night that almost cost him his life.

Labares survived an attack by unidentified gunmen aboard a red Honda XRM motorcycle at around 8:30 pm after he left for work as chief reporter of Radio Mindanao Network (RMN)-DxCC. He sustained a single gunshot wound at the back from a pistol of still undetermined make and caliber that exited through his stomach. He was shot just a few meters from his home in Buena Oro, Aluba, Barangay Macasandig.

The 48 year-old Labares was able to run and seek help from bystanders who in turn brought him to the Maria Reyna Hospital immediately after the incident. Doctors declared him safe after one of his kidneys was removed because of severe damage.

Ire of Gambling Lords

Described by colleagues as a hard-hitting commentator, Labares was the first journalist to be shot in Cagayan de Oro City.

According to Susan Palmes, president of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Cagayan de Oro Chapter (NUJP-CDO), Labares may have gotten the ire of gambling lords as this had been the foremost issue of his commentaries in the past week. Labares is active in denouncing illegal activities such as local cock fighting and video karera (computerized horse racing).

Annaliza Reyes, Labares’s co-anchor in a radio program aired daily in DxCC Express, said that a person had also been asking around regarding the address of Labares’ residence.

Other colleagues added that Labares was approached by an emissary of a “powerful” personality who warned him to stop his tirades against video karera and even asked how much it would take him to do so.

Aside from being RMN’s assistant news manager, Labares also edits for a local tabloid.

Witnesses’ description of the suspects is unclear as the incident occurred on the dark portion of the road in Aluba.

PO2 Rostum Gines of Police Station 9 in Macasandig City said that based on initial descriptions of witnesses, one of the assailants was wearing a white helmet and the other, the supposed triggerman, was wearing a black jacket with no helmet on.

According to Gines, Labares was able to call PO3 Leodigario Sagun, a policeman friend, after the suspects had left to request emergency assistance.

After getting shot and while still on the ground, Labares was said to have feigned getting something from his waist in an attempt to make the suspects believe he had a gun and to avoid getting shot a second or perhaps third time.

“Task Force Nilo Labares”

Acting City Police Director Noel Armilla has formed Task Force Nilo Labares to investigate the shooting and to go after the suspects. The task force is composed of four investigators and the entire city investigation team as back up. The task force will be led by Col. Bernard Mendoza, Armilla said in a radio interview over RMN-DxCC.

Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro Vice Mayor Vicente Emano said the incident has brought fear and reservations not only among members of the media but also for the whole of Cagayan de Oro.

Emano urged on Friday the city police to issue a “shoot-to-kill” order against the suspects, which is meant to deter further assassination attempts on media practitioners in the city.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, in a radio interview, ordered “the Philippine National Police, Director General Jesus Verzosa, to leave no stone unturned to ensure justice is done, to identify the killers, to catch them, prosecute them and bring them before the bars of justice.”

Media Repression

Labares’s colleagues in the local media, most of whom trooped to the hospital upon hearing the news of his shooting, were one in condemning the assassination attempt, calling the incident as in insult to media. They called on police authorities to uncover the perpetrators in the shortest possible time.

In a statement released on Friday, the NUJP condemned the continued attempts to silence the independent media and described attacks on journalists as “alarming symptoms not just of a general breakdown in law and order but, worse, of an increasing drift toward repression.”

“Again, while we reiterate that we see no proof of any official policy of directly attacking journalists, we nevertheless lay the blame for this and previous assaults on our colleagues, too many of who have been silenced permanently, on the government, whose inaction and apathy, as well as its actual attempts to muzzle the media and curtail freedom of the press and expression, have nurtured the culture of impunity that emboldens those who wish to silence us,” said Nonoy Espina, NUJP Vice Chairman.

Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) spokesman Reggie Jularbal said they have coordinated with Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor.

Jularbal added that the KBP has called on authorities to “act swiftly to solve this case against attack on media personalities” to deter further attacks.

Armed Journalists

After the incident, the issue of arming journalists became a hot topic of discussion among the local media in Cagayan de Oro City.

Cagayan de Oro Press Club president Vincent Jaudian said that the assassination attempt sends a chilling message to the local media.

“It may be time for media, especially for those with threats to their lives, to begin arming themselves.” Jaudian said. (pinoypress.net)