By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday vowed to take urgent and decisive action to ensure that justice is served for the killing of former Kalibo, Aklan mayor and veteran journalist Juan “Johnny” Dayang.
Marbil said the PNP “will not rest until those responsible are brought to justice.”
“Mr. Juan ‘Johnny’ Dayang was not only a respected journalist but a cornerstone of Philippine media. To harm a man of his age and stature, in the safety of his own home, is both an affront to human decency and an attack on the very principles of press freedom he upheld throughout his life,” he said.
Marbil said the PNP joins the nation in grieving the loss of Mr. Dayang, a respected elder of the press, a stalwart of Philippine journalism, and President Emeritus of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PAPI), whose decades of service left a lasting impact on the country’s media landscape.
“We strongly condemn this senseless and cowardly act,” he said.
The PNP, he said, is working in close coordination with the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) and other investigative bodies “to immediately identify and arrest the perpetrator(s) of this cowardly act.”
“We have mobilized our regional units and investigative teams, including the PNP Media Vanguards, to ensure that justice is delivered without delay,” Marbil said.
“The Media Vanguards, composed of PNP officers specially trained to engage and support media practitioners, are also tasked to help strengthen our protection mechanisms for journalists across the country.”
Initial reports from the Kalibo Municipal Police Station confirmed that Dayang, 89, was shot by an unidentified gunman inside his residence in Kalibo, Aklan at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
He was rushed to the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
In a press briefing held at Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said investigators are already backtracking to trace the movement of the suspects before and after the murder was committed.
She said they are looking into all the possible motives of the killing, including politics and the victim’s former job as a media personality. (PNA)
