Palace creates special task group
TO PROBE INTO SESTOSO MURDER DUMAGUETE CITY — Malacañang, through the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), has launched a special task group to look into the murder of Dumaguete City radio broadcaster Edmund Sestoso.
The Special Investigation Task Group Sestoso was established last Tuesday and has directed police officials in Dumaguete to conduct a thorough investigation, according to PTFOMS head Joel Egco.
Egco, also undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), went to Sestoso's wake yesterday, together with PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar and Special Assistant to the President Bong Go. They gave their condolences to Sestoso's bereaved family and met with his colleagues in the Dumaguete media to discuss the incident.
The undersecretary noted that he and Andanar were "close" friends with the slain broadcaster, vowing that the PTFOMS will not "come back empty-handed."
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, during the regular press briefing Thursday, said Malacañang also condemns Sestoso's killing.
Sestoso was shot Monday (April 30) by still unidentified gunmen on his way home after doing his daily radio program "Tug-anan sa Power 91" over station dyGB 91.7 FM. He was brought to the hospital in critical condition but died from his injuries the following day (May 1).
He is survived by his wife Lourdes and two daughters, Eden and Bernadeth. Lourdes previously said that his slain husband was secretive about threats on his life and chose not to discuss these with her.
So far, Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NORPPO) Director Senior Superintendent Edwin Portento said they are now looking into three specific angles: Sestoso’s job as a broadcaster, his family, and his political affiliation or his connection with progressive groups.
Portento said that Sestoso's cellphone had been submitted to the PNP's Cybercrime Division for forensic investigation. The broadcaster's last phone conversation, according to his reporter Nikki Magbanua, was with a Tagalog-speaking person whose number was not registered in his phonebook.
When asked if they have any leads on the investigation, however, Portento refused to disclose any, but he said that Police Regional Office-7 Director Chief Superintendent Robert Quenery has also ordered him to intensify the investigation into the Sestoso's killing. "Nakikiramay din ang PNP sa naiwang pamilya niya," he added.
The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, in a statement, had condemned Sestoso's killing, noting that he is the eighth journalist killed since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016 and the 181st since 1986.
Members of the Dumaguete Press will be staging indignation rallies in the next few days to call for justice for Sestoso. Local newspapers in Dumaguete are also expected to publish a pooled editorial on Sunday condemning Sestoso's murder.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation yesterday released to the media and the public the official sketch of the suspected gunman in the killing of Sestoso.