Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Sunday, July 1, said government authorities are doing their best to bring to justice the killers of Davao del Norte-based journalist Dennis Denora.
Denora, publisher of the weekly newspaper Trends and Times, was killed by riding-in-tandem gunmen in an ambush in Panabo City on June 7.
“They are already zeroing in on the suspects,” Go told media in Tagum City in Davao del Norte.
Go was referring to the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) which has been ordered by Malacañang to investigate the Denora killing. PTFoMS is headed by Communications Undersecretary Joel Egco.
PTFoMS was created by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2016 to investigate media killings and harassment.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press briefing in Davao City on June 28, assured that the Duterte administration is seriously looking into the killing of media practitioners.
The government’s initiatives are not merely a “lip service,” said Roque. Earlier a day after Denora was killed, Egco said an “influential politician” could be behind the murder.
The multi-agency Task Force Denora, created by the Davao del Norte provincial police office, earlier said it was looking into politics as a possible motive in the killing of the Panabo City-based journalist.
Denora, who also anchors a daily commentary program in a local radio station, was an avid critic of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Alvarez, who represents Davao del Norte’s first congressional district, denied hand in the killing.
Friends of Denora, including Governor Anthony del Rosario and 2nd District Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr., have raised P1.5 million as prize for information that could lead to Denora’s killers.