Philippine officer accused of journalist's murder

The wife of Crispin Perez Jr. identified the officer as the man who shot her husband in San Jose township in central Mindoro Occidental province on June 9, said Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor.

Perez, a lawyer and former provincial vice governor who hosted his own show on Radio DWDO, was one of five journalists gunned down this year, said the independent Philippine Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

The Philippines is often described as one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters, with the media center listing 79 journalists killed since the ouster of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Blancaflor, head of a government task force investigating and prosecuting political killings, said the suspect, Darwin Quimoyog, was being held at regional police headquarters. He will be subpoenaed to respond to the criminal complaint filed against him, Blancaflor said. An arrest warrant will be issued if prosecutors file formal charges.

Irene Perez said the suspect pretended to seek legal advice before shooting her husband. She said she tried to grab him as he escaped on his motorcycle, which was later found abandoned. Perez's wife said Quimoyog worked as a bodyguard for a local politician whose company had been criticized by her husband in his radio program.

Blancaflor said he did not want to speculate on the motive for the killing.

The media center said the latest attack on a journalist was last week, when a man fatally shot radio commentator Jonathan Petalvero in Bayugan township in southern Agusan del Sur province. No arrest has been made.

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — the U.N. agency mandated to defend press freedom — condemned Perez's killing.

“I am gravely concerned by the high number of Philippine journalists who pay with their lives for exercising the fundamental human right of freedom of expression,” Koichiro Matsuura said in a statement.

He urged Philippine authorities to stop violent attacks on journalists by conducting a thorough investigation of Perez's killing.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says the Philippines is one of 14 countries where violence against the press often goes unsolved and unpunished.

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