Media groups offer P50k reward for arrest of radio anchor’s killer

Saturday, 26 March 2011 10:30 Angeli Sabillo

Two local media groups have offered P50,000 for information leading to the arrest of radio anchor Marlina “Len” Flores-Sumera’s killer.

The victim’s employer, radio station dzME, said the reward will come from the National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) and the Alyansa ng Filipinong Mamamahayag (AFIMA).

45-year-old Sumera is the first female and Manila-based journalist to be killed under the Aquino administration.

Professional hitman

Sumera was shot in the head by a lone gunman few meters from her home in Brgy. Maysilo, Malabon City. Her mobile phone and handbag are thought to have been taken by the killer to mislead authorities into suspecting it was a simple case of robbery.

Northern Police District public information chief Supt. Rio Gatacillo said the killer was a professional, leaving no clues at the crime scene including the spent shell of his gun.

According to investigations and witness accounts, the gunman had lookouts– one on foot and a man and a woman on a motorcycle. The assailant merely walked away and rode a jeepney while the one on the motorcycle followed.

They created Special Task Force Sumera to focus on the case.

Aquino challenged

NPC Vice President Marlon Purificacion told dzME that the government should not take the case lightly amid the supposed land dispute which is thought to have been the motive for the killing.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima initially said that media killings are more difficult to resolve because of the wide range of reasons behind the deaths as compared to activists. She emphasized that there were cases that involved personal and not work-related motives.

Different causes have been reported. One said that the reason may be a dispute involving the home of Sumera’s aunt, while another speculation involves a road-widening project by the government in the neighborhood where Maysilo was the homeowners’ association president.

Nevertheless, his radio partner Ed Sarto said the mother-of-three could have been killed because of her work in the media. Sumera was a public service anchor since the early 1990s.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) wrote, “The IFJ implores authorities in the Philippines to bring those responsible for (Sumera's) murder to justice, and break the cycle of violence and impunity that has plagued the country for so long.”

NPC President Jerry Yap said, “Everybody, including the president, should not be complacent about the lull in killings. The masterminds of these dastardly are still out there and their minions are just about ready to pounce on their next victim. It is high time that we work for the establishment of this superbody which they have already approved in principle last year.”

President Benigno Aquino III, during a convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said he believes the case will be solved soon, given the cooperation of the witnesses.

According to the IFJ, 144 journalists have been killed since 1986. Sumera is the fourth since Aquino assumed power last year, said the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

For years now, the Philippines has been considered as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists because of the pervading culture of impunity and the proliferations of firearms and private armies.

Palawan journalist and environmentalist Gerardo Ortega was killed in January this year. In 2009, 30 journalists were killed in what thas come to be known as the Ampatuan massacre.

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