Justice still elusive for the death of slain journalist a year after


ELUSIVE JUSTICE. Rose Muneza, wife of the late newsman Leo Diaz, columnist and reporter of local tabloid Sapol News Bulletin, talks to reporters at the graveyard of her husband who was gunned down on August 7, 2017 while driving his motorcycle in an outskirt village in President Quirino town, Sultan Kudarat. One year after the killing, the victim's family still cries for justice to arrest the suspected gunman, Toto Kalamag who had been ordered arrested by a regional Trial court in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat but remains unscathed to roam around the locality. The victim’s family has been asking local police authorities to effect the arrest of the elusive suspect who once served as bodyguard for President Quirino Mayor Azel Mangudadatu. Photo by MINDANAO MEDIA SERVICES


GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Justice is till elusive for the death of a newspaper reporter who was gunned down one year ago by motorcycle riding gunmen in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat.
Relatives of Leodoro Diaz, reporter of a local daily tabloid Sapol News Bulletin, still cry for justice one year after the newsman was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding gunmen while driving his motorcycle in Barangay Kanawi, President Quirino town, Sultan Kudarat on august 7, 2017.
Police have filed murder charges against Toto Kalamag, reportedly a bodyguard of President Quirino Mayor Azel Mangudadatu after witnesses tagged the suspect as the gunman who killed Diaz.
Last February, the regional trial court in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat issued an arrest warrant against the suspect who remains at large.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTOMS) has asked the police regional chief of Region 12 to effect the arrest of the suspect who was believed to be hiding in Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, PTOMS executive director, has asked Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Police Regional Office-12 director, to effect the immediate arrest of the suspect amid reports that the victim’s family had allegedly received threats supposedly coming from the suspect’s camp.
Rose Muneza, the victim’s wife, said their family had been under threat following the issuance of the arrest warrant against the suspect.
Unidentified suspects opened fire at the house of Carlos Diaz, the victim’s brother, in Barangay Katiku, President Quirino last month.
Muneza said Mayor Mangudadatu had threatened them for implicating Kalamag in the murder of her husband, saying that the suspect was innocent.
Muneza asked Mangudadatu to surrender Kalamag to police authorities to face the charges in court and prove his innocence.
“We asked the police to arrest the suspect and placed under the jurisdiction of the court,” Muneza said.
Senior Supt. James Gulmatico, Sultan Kudarat police director, assured the victim’s family that he had already formed a crack police team to hunt down the suspect.

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