Cop nabbed for Palawan journalist’s slay

A Palawan policeman has been arrested right at Camp Crame in Quezon City for the murder of radio broadcaster and former vice mayor Fernando Batul in Puerto Princesa City last Monday.

Police Officer 1 Aaron Golifardo was flown to Puerto Princesa yesterday and presented to the media at the Palawan police headquarters.

At least four witnesses have identified Golifardo as Batul’s killer, police said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) charged Golifardo with murder before the Palawan provincial prosecutor’s office yesterday afternoon.

"We were told that the second suspect was the first to open fire at Batul last Monday morning, but it was allegedly Golifardo who finished him off," said Regional Director Reynaldo Esmeralda of the NBI-Special Task Force, who flew to Palawan yesterday.

"The witnesses described the second suspect as having fair complexion. Right now, we cannot yet say if the suspect is also a policeman but we are hopeful that we would be able to arrest the second suspect soon."

President Arroyo told the Philippine Councilors’ League at the Subic Freeport yesterday that the arrest of the alleged killer of Batul shows that the government does not tolerate the murder of journalists.

"This (arrest) proves that we don’t tolerate such killings,"she said. "We can resolve these crimes, we can look for solutions to these problems. Please work closely with the police officers and stand guard to keep the jobs and livelihood of your constituents unsullied against crime and terror."

Chief Superintendent Delfin Genio Jr., Mimaropa region police commander, said Golifardo was arrested while attending the hearing of an administrative case filed against him by his wife in Camp Crame on Wednesday afternoon.

"I was attending a conference in Camp Crame when my Palawan police director called me up on the cell phone and informed me that Golifardo was our suspect," he told The STAR in a phone interview.

Genio said after receiving the information, he immediately ordered his staff in Camp Vicente Lim to look for Golifardo’s personnel record file and find his cell phone number.

"Incidentally, I was informed by Palawan command that Golifardo was also in Camp Crame attending his case (hearing)," he said.

Genio said he called up Golifardo at Camp Crame and ordered him to stand by, and later took "protective custody" of him before turning him over to Task Force Usig, the police unit mandated to run after killers of journalists.

Golifardo has a pending case of murder and attempted murder in Palawan, aside from the administrative case filed against him by his wife for insufficient financial support, he added.

Genio said Batul often attacked Golifardo during his radio program "Bastonero" aired over radio station dyPR because of the police officer’s gun-toting ways in Palawan.

"Initially, the motive that has been established in our investigation was revenge," he said. "We have strong evidence against (Golifardo)."

Golifardo has denied all the charges against him.

On the other hand, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) stands firm in rejecting the government’s move to arm journalists to stop the killing spree.

"We rejected it then, we reject it now," NUJP spokesman Jose Torres said.

"Such a suggestion is nothing but an abject admission that government is either unable or unwilling to protect us," he said.

Torres said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez’s statement that the government is considering arming journalists shows that not only journalists but also the public could no longer trust the administration to protect and defend them.

"While we do not dispute the right of citizens, including journalists, to legally arm themselves for self-defense, we contend that this is not the solution to the continued murder of our colleagues," he said.

"We would like to point out that a number of our slain colleagues were themselves armed, albeit in vain."

Torres said the NUJP is demanding justice, not guns which would only add to the mayhem that has claimed the lives not only of journalists, but also of militant leaders, activists and other ordinary citizens.

"These murders have remained unresolved," he said.

Torres explained the best and only way to stop the killings is for authorities to relentlessly arrest, prosecute and convict the perpetrators and their masterminds.

"Our only demand, Mr. Gonzalez, sir, is that you do your job," he said. "Or, failing that, to spare us your continued presence in a position you have miserably failed to fill."

Batul was the third journalist killed this year after seven were murdered last year. — Arnell Ozaeta, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero, Edith Regalado