MANILA, PHILIPPINES – DWIZ correspondent and columnist of Bandera Pilipino tabloid Jose Bernardo was shot dead in front of a restaurant in Barangay Kaligayahan, Quezon City, last Saturday, Oct. 31.
Two gunshot wounds were found in Bernardo’s head and was reported died on the spot by the investigators. Aside from the correspondent, Marlon Deonio, 23, restaurant employee, was also injured after a stray bullet hit him in the chest, and he’s now recovering at the Bernardino Hospital.
Bernardo is the 32nd journalist slain during President Aquino’s term and 3rd in Quezon City. He is also the public information officer of the Northern Police District Tri-Media Organization (NPD-TMO), a group of media workers covering the police beat in the northern Metro Manila. He is also a reporter in radio station DWBL.
In a report by The Philippine Star, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Joel Pagdilao ordered a deeper probe into the slaying of Bernardo as he directed Quezon City police director Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio to create a Special Investigation Task Force Jose to probe the case.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Rep. Alfred Vargas both condemned the killing happened to Bernardo, and urged the police to investigate and solve the incident.
“We condemn the murder of the DWIZ correspondent. We gave instructions to QCPD to thoroughly investigate, intensify the manhunt and bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Bautista in an interview with The Star.
“We cannot tolerate this kind of violence and total disregard for human life. If this can happen to a journalist, it could happen to anyone,” Vargas also added.
Initial reports indicated that Bernardo was shot while parking his motorcycle in front of a fastfood restaurant along Zabarte Road in Barangay Kaligayahan.
Witnesses said the assailants, who are waiting for him, pulled out a gun and shot Bernardo at around 10 p.m. and fell to the ground. The gunman boarded a waiting motorcycle driven by his companion who acted as a lookout, and escaped towards Camarin, Caloocan City.
The Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered several shells of .45 caliber pistol in the crime scene.
The motive of the slaying is yet to be established said Pagdilao, and he ordered in-depth investigation regarding the incident.
“Police investigators were dispatched to his place of work and at the residence of the victim in order to gather information,” Pagdilao said.
Bernardo’s mobile phone that was recovered would be subjected to forensic examination at PNP crime laboratory.