Redemptor Acharon Charged with Murder

MANILA, Philippines

A junior police officer has been charged for the murder of broadcaster Dennis Cuesta, who died five days after he was shot in General Santos City on August 4.

Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman, said Inspector Redemptor Acharon was charged with murder before the Department of Justice Sunday for the death of Dennis Cuesta, program director of Radio Mindanao Network’s dxMD.

Bartolome said officers of the National Union of the Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) met with Director General Avelino Razon Jr. about the case.

Razon has ordered the immediate transfer of Acharon from Central Mindanao (Region 12) to PNP headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, Bartolome said.

Police said the charges against the police officer were filed after two eyewitnesses tagged him as the gunman. Investigators will also cross-match Acharon with the artist’s sketch earlier released by the police.

The NUJP sought the meeting with the PNP leadership and Task Force Usig, the special police unit tasked to probe media and political killings, after receiving reports there were efforts to whitewash Cuesta’s murder because one of the suspects is a policeman.

Cuesta, who anchored the public affairs program "Straight to the Point" and was known for hard-hitting commentaries on issues like illegal gambling, graft and corruption in government, and illegal drugs, slipped into a coma after he was shot in the head and hip, the NUJP said.

He died two days after another RMN broadcaster, Martin Roxas, was gunned down in Roxas City, Capiz. Roxas was also an officer of the NUJP chapter in Capiz and was the first member of the media organization to be killed.

The two broadcasters brought the total number of journalists murdered since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power, to 90, the highest death toll under any administration, including the 14-year Marcos dictatorship.