ZAMBOANGA CITY, 14 July 2006 — Police have detained an army soldier who was implicated in the killing of a journalist in the southern Philippines, officials said yesterday.
Sgt. Herbert Liguan, assigned with the 1st Infantry Division, has been charged in the killing of Rolly Cañete, who was gunned down Jan. 20 in the city of Pagadian in Zamboanga del Sur province.
“We have the soldier in custody. We had a warrant for his arrest for the alleged killing of the journalist,” Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, the provincial police chief, told Arab News.
The 65-year-old Cañete was driving a motorcycle with his son on his way to the provincial capitol office when one of two gunmen, also on a motorcycle, shot him in Cawit village. His son survived the attack and positively identified the 46-year-old soldier.
Ochotorena said the military surrendered the soldier on Wednesday to the Pagadian police.
“The Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation were tracking down the soldier until his surrender on Wednesday. The close coordination between law enforcement agencies and the military resulted in the recovery of the suspect,” he said.
Canete was hosting two radio programs in Pagadian and was also working with Aurora Cerilles, the provincial governor, as information officer.
Another Pagadian journalist, Edgar Damalerio, of radio station DXKP, was also shot dead by a policeman, Guillermo Wapile, on May 13, 2002, while driving home from work with two colleagues.
Wapile was arrested and sentenced to life in prison last year for murdering the journalist. At least three witnesses in the Damalerio case were also killed one after the other.
The Philippines holds the dubious distinction as the second most dangerous place for journalists in 2005 in the list of the international media group Reporters Without Borders. On top of the list is Iraq, which is in a state of war.
