Manhunt on vs. suspect in Butuan radioman’s slay

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Butuan City Police Office has already put a PHP50,000 bounty for anyone who can help locate the suspect in  Saturday's (April 20) killing of a radio commentator there.

The suspect, identified as Ulating Macarampat Barapangcat, who is also known as alias “Ola Saransamen,” was identified by witnesses as the one who stabbed radioman Francis Patindol around 10 a.m.

Patindol, who is a native of Cagayan de Oro, was waiting for his companions outside a copy center on Narra Road in Barangay New Society when he was stabbed without provocation by the suspect, police said.

Patindol was brought to the MJ Santos Hospital but succumbed to a wound on his left chest minutes later.

Police are still facing a blank wall on the suspect’s motive.

Patindol hosted a commentary program over local radio station dxJM. Before relocating to Butuan City last year, he was a long-time media practitioner in Cagayan de Oro City, where he served as a program director for dxCO.

His remains were brought back to Cagayan de Oro City in Barangay Nazareth Monday.

In a statement Monday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Patindol's death may not have been work-related. (PNA)