DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental – Angered by the brutal killing of their colleague in the news media industry, tri-media journalists on Wednesday banded together to condemn the dastardly act and called on authorities to conduct a thorough and deeper investigation into the case.
News reporters, anchormen, print journalists and other colleagues in the Dumaguete media united to sound off a common call for justice for the death of 51-year old Edmund Sestoso, a radio anchor of DYGB-FM Power 91, who did not survive a day after he was shot by unidentified suspects Monday morning.
In a simultaneous broadcast coverage starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday and onwards, with DYGB-FM as carrying station and the other radio stations hooking up, the Dumaguete media took turns in airing their sentiments over the death of Sestoso.
The simulcast was held on the late Sestoso’s regular daily airtime.
Many of them were huddled in the studio of Power 91 as a sign of solidarity while others phoned in as well to offer their condolences and voiced their concerns over what they describe as an affront to press freedom.
“Kami dire sa DYWC (AM), nanghinaot nga ang gobyerno, ang kapolisan ug ang mga ahensya nga nahitungdan niini unta maningkamot sa pagsolbad sa maong krimen ug mahatagan ug hustisya ang kamatayon sa atong kauban sa buhat (We at DYWC-AM are hoping that government, the police and other agencies involved will endeavor to solve the said crime and to give justice to the death of our colleague in the industry),” said Fr. Ramonito Maata, the station manager of DYWC-AM, operated by the Diocese of Dumaguete.
Maata said that along with the sentiments of the Catholic Church here, which has issued a statement on the death of Sestoso and that of Fr. Mark Y. Ventura of Tuguegarao who was gunned down by unidentified perpetrators shortly after the priest had said mass, “we offer our sincere condolences to the family of the late Edmund Sestoso and prayers for the eternal repose of his soul.”
For his part, veteran journalist Ely Dejaresco, owner/manager of DYEM-FM and the weekly Negros Chronicle, called on the media to stop discussing politics and instead cover other areas in the news.
“As a matter of fact, in journalism, politics is just one percent of the things that can be talked about in the media,” he said.
Although the police have not come up yet with a conclusion as to the motive behind Sestoso’s death, they are considering his profession as a radio personality and politics as possibly the reason that he was killed.
But many media practitioners in Dumaguete are saying they believe Sestoso’s death was “job-related.”
Sestoso was a block-timer program anchor for Gov. Roel Degamo for years prior to his hiring a year ago as Tug-anan anchor.
An irate and emotional block-timer, Rex Santos of DYRM-AM, could not help but shed tears as he angrily challenged no one in particular to come and get him instead, as he lambasted those who perpetrated the killing of Sestoso.
For Roy Bustillo of CNN-Philippines, he noted that what happened to Sestoso was an unusual happening in Dumaguete City, because “this kind of happening is usually common like in Mindanao or Luzon”.
“For Dumaguete being the City of Gentle People, nahitabo ni atol sa gun ban (it happened during the gun ban) and the election is coming, and yet this is what happened to our colleague, Edmund,” Bustillo stressed.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), through its national director Jose Jaime Espina, and the Diocese of Dumaguete headed by Bishop Julito Cortes and through its spokesperson, Fr. Nathaniel Gomez, have also issued separate statements condemning the death of Sestoso and seeking justice for his death.
Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo of Dumaguete City also issued a statement earlier saying that he is hoping that the police and other investigating agencies will conduct a thorough investigation into the murder of Sestoso.
Dumaguete media members and former media practitioners agree that they will not allow the death of Sestoso to “silence them” in their quest for the truth and are not cowed by threats of politicians or from anybody who may be the subject of news reports in their daily coverage. (PNA)
