One of 2 assassins of Bicolano journalist identified, police say

LEGAZPI CITY — Police said yesterday one of the two men who gunned down journalist Rowell Endrinal here last Wednesday has been identified.

This, as President Arroyo and international media watchdogs condemned yesterday the killing of Endrinal, who was shot dead while he was heading to radio station dzRC for his morning political commentary program.

"It is confirmed that there are positive developments in the case. But we are still waiting for additional details to make sure that what we will announce to the public is correct," Senior Superintendent Pedro Tango, Albay police director, told The STAR in a cellphone interview.

Endrinal’s wife, Marina, confirmed that one of the assassins has been identified by witnesses.

Endrinal, 45, was the second journalist gunned down in less than three months and according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the 44th reporter killed in the Philippines since 1986.

"This incident is a desperate attempt to curtail the freedom of speech and of the press and will not go unpunished," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement.

Last year, Mrs. Arroyo offered a P1-million bounty for tips leading to the arrest of suspects of each murdered journalist in the Philippines in the past five years.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders called on authorities to hold a full investigation into Endrinal’s murder.

Endrinal was a known critic of the local political elite and his murder, "if left unpunished... could open the way for more attacks on journalists," the group said in a statement.

The group called on Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina to carry out a thorough investigation to ensure that Endrinal’s killers were caught and punished.

It noted that seven journalists were murdered in the Philippines last year, one of the highest records since democracy was restored in the country in 1986.

Some of the assassins were arrested but the masterminds of the killings have gone unpunished, Reporters Without Borders said.

"The routine assassination of journalists in the Philippines must no longer be treated with impunity," Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, said in a statement.

For his part, Juan Dayang, president of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, said the killing "marks another dark chapter in the history of community journalism."

Endrinal hosted a political commentary show on dzRC in which he spoke out against local politicians and criminal gangs. He also published the Bicol Metro News and Ang Bicolano Ngayon. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Jose Rodel Clapano