PTFoMS eyes 2016 incident link to Pangasinan newsman’s slay: DOJ

FILE: Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday (Sept. 5, 2019). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday said the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) would soon conduct a probe on the death of broadcaster Virgilio “Vir” Maganes.

“The PTFoMS will probably make an initial determination if the incident was work-related. If affirmative, the investigating team will try to find out if it was connected to the 2016 incident,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters, referring to a previous shooting incident four years ago.

Unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen shot Maganes six times outside his residence in Barangay San Blas in Villasis town on Tuesday morning. He was a radio commentator of radio station DWPR and also writes for Northern Watch, a local newspaper.

Villasis police officer-in-charge, Maj. Christian Alucod said the incident is not the first attempt against Maganes’ life.

“In 2016, he was also shot but he was unharmed. A case was filed against an individual but Maganes and the person, later on, came to an agreement. We are reviewing that case as part of the investigation,” he said.