DOJ, CHR probe Sultan Kudarat broadcaster’s shooting

MANILA, Philippines — A special team of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate Wednesday’s gun attack on Sultan Kudarat radio broadcaster Benjie Caballero in Tacurong City.

DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete said Administrative Order 1 signed by President Duterte in 2016 tasked the DOJ to investigate incidents involving media workers.

The Commission on Human Rights-Soccsksargen office also dispatched a quick response team to conduct a parallel probe, CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said.

De Guia said the slay attempt is another incident of media harassment and violence in the country.

Caballero, acting manager of Radyo ni Juan, correspondent of Remate and president of the Sultan Kudarat task force on media security, was shot while waiting for a tricycle in Barangay Isabela. He is now in stable condition at the intensive care unit of the St. Louis Hospital.

Doctors have removed two caliber .45 slugs from the lungs of the broadcaster, reporters in Tacurong City and South Cotabato said in their posts on Facebook.