Broadcaser shot dead in Dumaguete

A radio broadcaster was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding assailants in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental yesterday morning.

Dindo Generoso, 67, a block timer of dyEM 96.7 Bai Radio, died at the scene from at least eight gunshots to the body.

Generoso is said to have been a hard-hitting broadcaster in the region, according to Central Visayas police director Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon.

“That is the initial information we obtained,” De Leon said.

Generoso was an anchor for development programs of the local government, including a reclamation project that was reportedly halted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last week.

Initial investigation showed that Generoso was in a Hyundai Elantra sedan on his way to work when two men on a motorcycle fired at him at the corner of Hibbard Avenue and EJ Blanco Drive in Barangay Piapi at around 7:30 a.m.

Probers said they retrieved seven bullet casings of a .45-caliber handgun and a slug from a firearm of unknown caliber at the scene.

Generoso is the second broadcaster murdered in Dumaguete since Edmund Sestoso, who was killed in May last year after hosting his radio program.

Police said they have yet to determine the motive behind Generoso’s murder.

Special probe team

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would form a special investigation team to look into the killing of Generoso.

Guevarra, who chairs the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS), said he might tap the National Bureau of Investigation to assist in the probe. 

The PTFoMS strongly condemned the killing of Generoso.

“This dastardly act will not go unpunished. Whoever is behind this senseless murder will be brought to justice,” PTFoMS executive director Joel Sy Egco said.

Generoso’s radio program is reportedly sponsored by the Dumaguete City government as an extension of its public information office.

He ran for mayor in the last elections but lost.

Meanwhile, a radio station in Butuan City has been ordered closed for supposedly operating without business permit from the mayor’s office.

Sunny 103.1 FM radio located at Purok 5, Monti Vista Villas, Villa Kananga was padlocked by the city permit and licensing division headed by Arturo Cagurol.

Station manager Romeo Valentino questioned the cease and desist order issued by Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada on Oct. 22.

“The closure order was purely harassment to stop us from criticizing Lagnada’s administration. It was meant to curtail press freedom,” Valentino said.