DESCRIBING it as a “cowardly” act, Malacañang on Wednesday denounced “in the strongest terms” the killing of broadcaster “Rex Cornelio” Pepino (Pepino) on the night of Tuesday May 5, 2020 in Dumaguete City. Pepino was a veteran reporter/announcer for DYMD Energy FM Radio. He was 48 years old.
Initial reports gathered by the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) revealed that Pepino was shot at point-blank range along Villa Amada, North Road, Brgy. Daro at around 8:30pm by two unidentified “riding-in-tandem” gunmen.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary and PTFoMS Co-Chair Martin Andanar said he was saddened by the lat-est attack against another member of the media, especially at a time when the role of journalists as frontliners during the Covid19 pandemic is deemed “heroic.”
The Palace official also directed the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office and the Dumaguete City Police Office to leave no stone un-turned in going after the perpetrators and mastermind in the killing.
The PTFoMS was created by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 to preserve and protect freedom of the press. To this end, the president has declared as a matter of national policy to stop all forms of threat and violence against all media practitioners.
Egco, for his part, said they are looking at all angles to determine the motive for the killing.
DYMD, he noted, is owned by the political Limkaichong clan. PILIPINO MIRROR REPORTORIAL TEAM
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