Special investigation team formed for slain Kidapawan broadcaster

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has ordered the creation of a special investigation team (SIT) that will probe the July 2019 killing of broadcaster Eduardo ‘Ed’ Dizon in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) said Thursday.

PTFoMS executive director Paul Gutierrez said Remulla issued Administrative Order (AO) 1 on April 15, approving the agency’s request to form an SIT.

“We are very thankful for the swift and immediate action of Secretary Remulla creating SIT Dizon. This again shows that the government is unrelenting in pursuing justice for all victims of heinous crimes, especially the members of the press, regardless of when the crime took place,” Gutierrez said in a press statement.

Malolos City Prosecutor Aldrin Evangelista, who handled the 2009 Ampatuan Massacre, will lead the investigating task force.

According to the PTFoMS, three suspects surfaced during an investigation conducted by an initial SITG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 2019 — Sotero ‘Jun’ Jacolbe, Dante Encarnacion Tabusares, aka, ‘Bong Encarnacion,’ and Junell Jane Andagkit Poten, aka, ‘Junell Gerozaga.’

Jacolbe and Encarnacion, however, were recently allowed to post bail by separate Davao courts.

“The creation of the SIT is one of the important measures the PTFoMS has adopted to bolster this case,” Gutierrez said.

“We shall be announcing the other measures we have prepared as soon as they are finalized. But our message remains simple and clear: Perpetrators of violent crimes against the media would face the full force of the law. It may take some time but justice would prevail in the end,” he said.

A radio commentator of Brigada News, Dizon was fatally shot by motorcycle-riding suspects on the evening of July 10, 2019. Investigation showed he might have been targeted due to his criticism of Encarnacion and the KAPA Ministry that was ordered closed by the government in 2019 for allegedly serving as a front for a financial scam. Encarnacion was the leader of KAPA in North Cotabato at the time.—RF, GMA Integrated News