GUNNED DOWN. Cornelio Pepino, also known as Rex Cornelio, a broadcast journalist of DYMD Energy FM in Dumaguete City, was shot dead Tuesday (May 5, 2020). He was on his way home with his wife on a motorcycle when two suspects on board another motorcycle shot him. (Photo courtesy of Syril Repe)
DUMAGUETE CITY – A broadcast journalist was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects along the national highway in Barangay Daro here Tuesday evening.
Cornelio Pepino, who goes by the name Rex Cornelio on air, 48, a resident of Boloc-boloc in the nearby town of Sibulan, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds in his body and head, said Col. Julian Entoma, provincial police director.
Police investigation showed the incident happened when Cornelio was driving his motorcycle with his wife, Colleen, as backrider, on their way home around 8:30 p.m. from his regular evening program at DYMD Energy FM, where he was a reporter and announcer.
Entoma said that the suspects rode up to the victim and shot him, causing him and his wife to fall on the ground.
Investigation showed that one of the suspects alighted from the motorcycle and finished off Pepino, Entoma said.
The victim was rushed to the Silliman University Medical Center here but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Policemen from the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) recovered empty shells of caliber 9mm firearm from the site of the incident.
While considering all other angles, Entoma said the closest possible motive for Pepino’s death was work-related.
Pepino had reportedly received a death threat but declined a security detail, the provincial police director said.
Pepino is the third broadcast journalist to be gunned down in Dumaguete in recent years.
Edmund Sestoso of Power 91 DYGB-FM was shot dead on May 1, 2018 while Dindo Generoso of Bai Radio DYEM-FM was gunned down on November 7, 2019, both in this capital city.
More than a decade ago, Roger Recaña, a radio broadcaster, was also murdered here although it was not known at the time whether his death was related to his work in the news media.
Meanwhile, Entoma said the Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7) has created the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Pepino to focus on the investigation of the broadcaster’s death.
Entoma will head the task force, with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and possibly the National Bureau of Investigation.
Police are now obtaining closed circuit television (CCTV) footages as Entoma also called on potential witnesses, who could avail of a witness protection program, to help in the investigation. (PNA)
