Still no clues on Tarlac newsman’s slay

TARLAC CITY — Police are still in the dark in Tuesday night’s assassination of a local tabloid columnist.

This, as Senior Superintendent Angelo Sunglao, provincial police director, announced the creation of Task Force Greg to look into all possible angles into the gunslaying of Bonifacio Gregorio in front of his house in Barangay Caramutan in La Paz town.

Sunglao said their investigation will be independent of the one being conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group although both agencies would closely coordinate with each other.

Gregorio’s family could not recall if he had actually received death threats, but his wife, Gertrudes, 54, said she had repeatedly asked him to stop writing critical columns because he was already earning the ire of "many people."

Gregorio, 55, had written hard-hitting columns for the community weekly tabloid Dyaryo Banat for the past three years. He served as chairman of Barangay Caramutan for nine years (1989 to 1997).

A witness told probers that the gunman casually walked toward Gregorio and then shot him twice in the head. As Gregorio fell, the assailant pumped a third bullet into the newsman’s head, leading authorities to believe that he was a professional killer.