Manhunt on for ‘cop-killer’ of Zamboanga newsman

A Mindanao-wide manhunt is underway for the principal suspect in the murder of a Zamboanga-based journalist in Pagadian City in May last year.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. has alerted all police units in Mindanao for the arrest of Guillermo Wapille, a dismissed police officer formerly assigned with the Pagadian City police.

Ebdane has ordered the immediate relief of Senior Superintendent Pedrito Reyes as police director of Zamboanga del Sur, not Superintendent Nelson Eucogco, Pagadian City police chief, as earlier reported.

Ebdane made the move following Wapille’s escape from police custody last Jan. 30. Superintendent Samson Ubay-Ubay replaced Reyes as officer-in-charge.

In a statement yesterday, Ebdane said he has also approved summary dismissal proceedings against Wapille’s former superior, Superintendent Asuri Hawani.

Chief Superintendent Simeon Dizon Jr., Region 9 police director, said police intelligence agents are now fanning out various places in Western Mindanao where Wapille may have sought refuge.

Witnesses tagged Wapille as the one who gunned down Edgardo Damalerio, a hard-hitting radio commentator and managing editor of the Zamboanga Scribe on May 23 last year.

Damalerio was driving his owner-type jeep along Pajares street in Pagadian City, not far from the police headquarters and the City Hall, when he was shot dead.

Damalerio was the 35th journalist killed in the Philippines since 1986. Not one of the killers has been brought to court.

Since his indictment, Wapille has been placed under the restrictive custody of the Zamboanga del Sur police at Camp Abellon in Pagadian City pending the issuance of official commitment orders from the court.

But before the warrant of arrest issued by Judge Franklin Villegas last Jan. 30 could be served, Wapille could no longer be found.

Last week, the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, composed of several media organizations, expressed alarm over Wapille’s escape from police custody and accused the local police of obstructing justice.