By: Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Two persons, including a retired police officer, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of a radio broadcaster in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental last Thursday.
An active police officer was also tagged in the case and remains at-large.
Police Colonel Julian Entoma, director of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (Norppo) identified the arrested suspects as retired Police Officer 2 Glenn Corsame and former police asset Teddy Reyes Salaw.
Police Officer 2 Roger Rubio, whom Entoma pointed as the alleged “principal suspect,” is still on the loose.
Entoma said the suspects were identified through the recording of a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera installed near the crime scene.
Based on the CCTV footage, Rubio rode a pick-up truck driven by Salaw then transferred to a motorcycle driven by Corsame and tailed the vehicle of 67-year-old Dindo Generoso, a block-timer of dyEM 96.7 Bai Radio.
Corsame then blocked the victim’s car and Rubio allegedly shot the broadcaster before fleeing.
Entoma said the two arrested suspects were arrested near their respective houses in the city later that day.
Police recovered a .45 caliber pistol with eight rounds of live ammunition from Salaw but the pick-up truck which he borrowed from his brother-in-law remains missing.
Entoma said they will also look for Salaw’s brother-in-law to determine if he has participation in the crime, adding that he can also be considered as a “person of interest.”
Entoma claimed that the two arrested suspects were Rubio’s accomplices in the killing of Generoso.
He said they are still investigating how the two arrested suspects established links with Rubio in the murder case.
He said that Corsame retired from the police service last January and was last assigned at 1st Provincial Mobile Group with a clean record.
Rubio, who is from Guihulngan City, is currently assigned at the Provincial Mobile Force Company.
He said Rubio also has a clean record until he was tagged in Generoso’s killing.
He said Rubio did not report for duty last Thursday and can no longer be found or reached by his officers.
He said Rubio will be considered absent without official leave (Awol) if he fails to report on Friday.
Entoma said they cannot yet establish if these suspects were gun-for-hire or hitmen but they are closely looking at Rubio as the alleged “triggerman.”
“We cannot yet tell if someone ordered them to kill him (Generoso) or if Rubio got offended with his hard-hitting commentaries which triggered the crime,” he added.
Murder charges were filed against the three suspects yesterday.
Entoma said they are still looking closely into work-related and land conflict as two angles behind the killing.
Earlier, police said that the victim has been receiving threats through phone calls but the family has no idea about the identities of those persons.
The victim had been in the radio industry since 2016 when he came home after working abroad, and he has no record in illegal activities, Entoma said.
He said they are also still probing the angle of land dispute to check if it has also something to do with his death, since he was reportedly negotiating with another party on their piece of land to be used for a commercial area.
He said Generoso had previously ran for the mayoralty position in 2016 and was declared a nuisance candidate, but they are dismissing the angle of politics because he was even an extension of the Public Information Office of the city government of Dumaguete through his radio program.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, Central Visayas police director, said the investigation is “almost complete” with the arrest of Salaw and Corsame, but the case is not yet solved.
‘But rest assured, especially the family and relatives of the victim, your police will help you bring all the suspects involved in this dastardly act to justice. My strict order to our men on the ground is to leave no stone unturned and make it quick,” de Leon said.
