(CMFR/IFEX) – On 8 February 2005, veteran tabloid columnist Pablo Hernandez was stabbed inside a billiard hall in Quezon City by an individual suspected to have been hired by local high-ranking police officers. Hernandez, 41, a writer for the tabloid “Bulgar”, sustained two stab wounds in the back and was immediately rushed to Capitol Medical […]
(CMFR/IFEX) – On 8 February 2005, veteran tabloid columnist Pablo Hernandez was stabbed inside a billiard hall in Quezon City by an individual suspected to have been hired by local high-ranking police officers.
Hernandez, 41, a writer for the tabloid “Bulgar”, sustained two stab wounds in the back and was immediately rushed to Capitol Medical Center. Attending doctors declared Hernandez out of danger one day after the incident.
The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Joel Reduca, was apprehended immediately by bystanders and police officers. He claimed he was hired to kill Hernandez.
Hernandez was playing pool inside the Sidepockets billiard hall on Quezon Avenue when he received a phone call, which turned out to be the cue for Reduca to kill him.
Reduca stabbed Hernandez twice using an ice pick before other patrons and security guards managed to stop him.
According to some of the hall’s frequent patrons, Reduca had been in the hall the day before the incident. Hernandez is a regular customer at Sidepockets.
Under interrogation by Central Police District (CPD) officers, Reduca admitted getting paid P20,000 (approx. US$365) to kill the columnist by senior police officer Bonito Antenunes and four other cohorts, including two high-ranking police officers. Further investigations and follow-up operations by the CPD in the succeeding days resulted in the identification of the suspected masterminds behind the attack.
Hernandez, a “Bulgar” columnist for 13 years, is known for his hard-hitting critiques of corrupt government officials, the military and police.
One of the suspects, police superintendent Demosthenes Felix, surrendered on 9 February but denied any involvement in the crime. The four other suspects, including police inspector Hector Samar and Antenunes, remain at large.
In an interview with CMFR, Hernandez’s editorial assistant confirmed that the tabloid had been receiving threats for the past few months because of the columnist’s hard-hitting reports.
In a separate incident, on the weekend of 5 February, radio announcer Jess Abarondo, of the military-owned DWDD station, was stabbed in the neck after a heated argument with a group of vendors in Antipolo City, just outside Manila.
According to local police, Abarondo was arguing with some vendors of pirated video compact discs (VCDs), when an unidentified suspect, who remains at large, stabbed the radio commentator using a screw driver.
Abarondo was doing an investigative report for his radio programme on the illegal reproduction of VCDs when the incident occurred. He was based at Camp Aguinaldo, the military’s national headquarters in Quezon City.
Abarondo survived the attack and is now in stable condition in hospital. Police are still trying to identify the assailant and the motive for the attack.
The two incidents come on the heels of recent events involving attacks and threats to media workers. The majority of journalists killed in the line of duty in the Philippines during the past 19 years were community and tabloid journalists and radio commentators.
