A radio commentator was killed by an unidentified gunman on 25 June 2009 in Bayugan town, Agusan del Sur province, in the Philippines. Agusan del Sur is about 833 kilometers southeast of Manila.
Jonathan Petalvero of dxVM-FM radio station was shot in the head by a lone gunman around 7:30 p.m. (local time) inside a restaurant at the Rotonda, Poblacion village. Contrary to earlier reports, Bayugan Police Chief Inspector Rudy Cuyop told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in a phone interview that the gunman fled on foot and not onboard a motorcycle. Quoting witnesses, Cuyop also denied earlier reports that the gunman was wearing a ski mask.
Police have a cartographic sketch of the suspect, but they still have to determine the motive behind the killing. The shell of a .45 caliber round was also recovered within the premises of the incident.
Petalvero, who was also a kagawad (councilor) at a village in Bayugan, hosted the program "Balita at Komentaryo (News and Commentary)" over local station dxVM-FM, along with station owner Genesis Efren Sr., who is also the town vice-mayor. The program is aired from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. (local time) every Monday.
Efren told CMFR in a phone interview that Petalvero joined the program last December 2008. He said the dxVM-FM station, local franchise holder of the dxSF network owned by the Agusan Communications Foundation Inc., began airing in November 2008.
He said Petalvero had no prior experience as a broadcaster. Efren said Petalvero volunteered to join the program and that he did not receive any compensation for his work.
Efren believes the killing may be related to Petalvero’s commentaries on corruption issues in local government. Petalvero did not mention receiving any threat prior to the shooting incident, according to Efren and Petalvero’s widow Girlie.
According to a 30 June 2009 report by the Manila-based newspaper "Philippine Star", Petalvaro was planning to run for vice mayor in the coming 2010 elections, with Efren as his running mate. Girlie confirmed this, though she clarified that he was planning to run as an independent.
Almost 47 percent (37 out of the 79) of work-related murder of journalists/media practitioners since 1986 involve community radio commentators and broadcasters. On 9 June 2009, Crispin Perez, a radio commentator in San Jose City, Occidental Mindoro was killed in front of his house by a lone gunman who escaped onboard a motorcycle.
The Petalvero killing is the fifth this year. Two of these five killings are work-related.
