Olea slay: top Bicolano crime fighters weigh in

(UPDATED) Naga City (June 14 2011) – Bicol has a crime-busting powerhouse in Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez.

Assasinations, seemingly politically motivated, are on the rise in their home locality. And with the recent Romeo Olea ambush-slay yielding no suspect as yet and the killing of Olea’s fellow journalist and officemate, Mike Belen, remaining unsolved after almost a year, they have all the reasons to be alarmed at the domestic level.

Feeling the pressure, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has stepped up its investigation of the killing of radio commentator Romy Olea to ensure that justice will be served.

At around lunch time today, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo briefly joined the vigil for Olea at the small chapel of barangay San Miguel in Iriga City and assured the family of his support in the resolution of the case.

Robredo is personally handling the case of Olea and with the DILG Secretary personally overseeing the case, the Olea family feels assured that the authorities will work on the immediate resolution of the case.

Olea was shot several times in an ambush somewhere in barangay San Jose, Iriga City while driving his motorcycleon on his way to DWEB-FM located in adjacent Nabua town at 5:52 A.M on Monday. Olea sustained three gunshot wounds from caliber 9mm pistol and was declared dead on arrival at the Rinconada Medical Center.

A police task force dubbed as, “task force Olea” was immediately formed on Monday (June 13) on orders of Philippine National Police (PNP) Bicol director, Chief Supt. Cecilio Calleja.

Newly designated PNP Deputy regional director, Sr. Supt. Victor Deona, who has recently relinquished the Camarines Sur provincial police office command to newly installed Police director Sr. Supt. Procopio Lipana, claims he was designated by Calleja to head the task force to probe the new media killing in Camarines Sur.

Police Intelligence sources bared that Olea’s killing is linked to the slaying of Miguel Abala Belen, 48, a volunteer reporter at DWEB-FM, the same radio station Olea was working.

Belen’s murder in July 2010 remains unsolved to date. The suspects include a woman riding in a motorcycle in tandem with a male companion.

The local police in Iriga City has theorized that Olea and Belen’s killings are related. Three broadcast-journalists are thought to be targets of assasins for hire.

It was earlier reported that another Iriga City based broadcaster had already left the locality right after Belen’s killing last year, fearing that he might be among the targets of the hired killers.

Olea who also writes for Naga Tabloid “Bicol Mail” is an accredited KBP broadcaster of DWEB-FM, unlike Belen who was a former political leader turned volunteer reporter. Both are critics of a political clan in Iriga City.

According to Iriga City Police Supt. Ronald Briones, there are probable witnesses to the Olea killing, but they are afraid to surface. He tries to convince the witnesses that they will be protected by the government if they reveal what they know.

Kapisanan Ng Mga Brodkaster Ng Pilipinas (KBP) Camarines Sur chapter president Emmanuel Llagas in his strongest words of condemnation said, “that culture of violence not common in this province, has now threatened the practice of the Free Press in Camarines Sur, wherein media practitioners are respected and the local media valued by local constituent.”

Meanwhile, the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has issued a press release condemning the killing of Olea and expressing alarm over the rampant killings of mediamen in Bicol.

The press release read: “The VACC chairman Dante Jimenez was shocked. Media killings are already rampant in the Bicol Region, particularly in the province of Camarines Sur. Very recently Mike Belen of the same station was shot dead and until now the suspect is still at liberty. These killings are an attempt to curtail press freedom. Authorities are being called upon to act in resolving this case.”

VACC Chairman Dante Jimenez said Olea’s murder is a test of Secretary Robredo’s ability to early solve a crime that happened right in his home province.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, a native of Iriga City, shall also visit the vigil for Olea.

Secretary de Lima earlier ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to do a parallel investigation of the Olea killing and pledged that she would personally follow the case that happened right in her hometown.

"It would be an SOP (standard operating procedure) that the NBI would be involved in such high profile case like this," De Lima said, adding that NBI director Magtanggol Gatdula already dispatched agents to do the parallel investigation. (With reports from Sonny Sales)