5 May 2020
A reporter of a community radio station in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental was shot dead on Tuesday night, May 5, 2020.
Police said Cornelio Pepino, 48, popularly known as Rex Cornelio, of dyMD Energy 93.7 FM was riding home with his wife on a motorcycle after hosting his regular program when he was shot by two unidentified men riding another motorcycle in Daro, Dumaguete City around 8:45 p.m.
The victim was rushed to the Siliman University Medical Center where he was dead on arrival.
Cornelio is the third journalist and broadcaster murdered in Dumaguete in as many years.
Edmund Sestoso, the former chairman of the NUJP chapter in Dumaguete City and anchor of the program Tug-anan on dyGB Power 91 was shot on April 30, 2018 and died the next day.
On November 7, 2019, Dindo Generoso of dyEM Bai Radio was shot dead on his way to work. Three suspects, two of them policemen, have been arrested and charged with his murder.
If Cornelio’s killing is proven to be work-related, he would be the 16th journalist slain under President Rodrigo Duterte and the 186th since 1986.
His killing happened just as broadcast network ABS-CBN signed off in compliance with a cease and desist order by the National Telecommunications Commission.
NUJP Safety Office
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