Police identify persons of interest in journo Maganes' slay
MANILA, Philippines — Police said Wednesday they have identified persons of interest in the fatal shooting of journalist Virgilio Maganes through CCTV footage near the crime scene.
Authorities disclosed this as they activated a special investigation task group which would focus on the killing of the Pangasinan-based journalist.
Police BGen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., regional police chief, also condemned the killing of Maganes, who survived an assassination attempt in 2016.
Ilocos police are appealing to the public to provide any information that would lead to the arrest of his killer.
Maganes, 62, was fired at by a motorcycle-riding gunman six times in front of his home in Villasis town, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, which listed him as the 18th journalist to be killed under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Almost exactly four years ago, motorcycle-riding gunmen also fired at Maganes while he was onboard a tricycle. The wounded Maganes played dead while those who attempted to take his life left a cardboard sign saying, “Drug pusher, huwag pamarisan (don’t emulate).”
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has said that he will immediately refer Maganes’ killing to the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, which he said will first determine whether the killing was work-related and if it is related to the 2016 assassination attempt. — Xave Gregorio with a report from Franco Luna
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