DAVAO CITY – Malacañang officials on Thursday vowed to deliver swift justice for slain Dumaguete City broadcast journalist Edmund Sestoso as they offered sympathy to his family.
The special aide of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Secretary Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, sought a full investigation into the murder of Sestoso as he vowed to help “deliver swift justice” to the victim’s family.
“Aalamin natin ang totoo and (We will find out the truth and ) give swift justice,” said Go when sought for reaction in an interview on the sidelines of the Hard Hat Ceremony for the groundbreaking of the PHP700-million Mindanao Media Hub along the Carlos P. Garcia Highway, this city.
Go was scheduled to visit Thursday the wake of Sestoso in Dumaguete together with Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar and Undersecretary Joel Egco of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security.
Andanar was saddened by the murder of Sestoso, whom he considered a close friend.
“I sympathize with the family,” he told reporters in an interview Thursday.
Andanar said the government, through Egco’s office, will get to the bottom of Sestoso’s killing and ensure the safety of all journalists in the Philippines.
Egco said the Task Force already has a lead in the killing of Sestoso.
“We are looking at particular possible leads. We’re on it,” Egco said.
Asked if the murder was personal, he said his office presumes the killing of journalists as work-related.
The 51-year-old Sestoso, a radio anchor/commentator of “Tug-anan Power 91” on radio station DYGB-FM in Dumaguete, was shot by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in Barangay Daro on Monday and died Tuesday afternoon. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
