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Vicente “Enteng” Sumalpong of Radyo ng Bayan, Tawi-tawi was with reporter Velma Andam when ambushed at around 8 a.m. Andam survived, Fr. Jonathan Domingo, former head of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate’s radio stations in Sulu and Tawi-tawi, said.
“I knew Enteng, a very nice guy and friendly person,” Fr. Domingo said in an e-mail to the Mindanao Media Forum.
Babylyn Omar, manager of station DXGD, could not be reached to give more details.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said Andam (NUJP spelled it Antham) and Ruelan Hope Borja also of Radyo ng Bayan, survived. Sumalpong had just fetched Andam from a news coverage at the Sea Orchid Housing Project in Bongao on his motorcycle when waylaid by unidentified suspects along the highway.
Sumalpong reportedly sustained five gunshot wounds on different parts of his body, NUJP said.
NUJP also noted that earlier, Sumalpong and Andam reportedly asked Radyo ng Bayan management that they be transferred from Tawi-Tawi because of fears for their safety. (MindaNews)