Suspect in Navarro’s shooting charged
FRUSTRATED MURDER
UNKNOWN to the media, ten hours after the shooting of radio commentator Orlando “Orly” Navarro and officer in charge station manager of DWIZ-Pangasinan 1:00 am on Tuesday, the suspected gunman in the gun attack was already identified and arrested by the Dagupan police.
P/Supt. Christopher Abrahano, chief of the DCPS, said they did not immediately notify the local media about Lim’s arrest until they had completed their initial documentation of evidence against Rolando Lim Jr., 46 years old and a resident of barangay Pantal East Dagupan City.
Lim’s arrest was based on testimony of witnesses and Navarro himself who remained conscious even after he a sustained gunshot wound, after he was rushed to the University of Pangasinan Medical Center (formerly Pangasinan Medical Center).
“All the evidence, the witnesses and the suspect’s statements led to the arrest of the suspect but we have yet to establish the motive,” he said.
A charge of frustrated murder has been filed against Lim, a neighbor of Navarro. The case was docketed in I.S. # NPS-1-10-INQ-14H-00199.
The investigators had conducted a reenactment at the scene of the crime, some 15 meters away from Navarro’s residence.
Navarro was operated on the same day at the UPMC to remove the bullet lodged in his back. It was from a .22 caliber handgun.
Navarro was on his way home at around one o’clock in the morning and had just alighted from a tricycle about 15 meters away from his house when he was fired upon. He remained conscious until he was brought to the UPMC.
“After the operation we are hoping to get the slug under our custody and it will be used to determine the caliber of gun fired at Navarro”, said Abrahano.
The DCPS is awaiting the result of the paraffin test although Abrahano said that the result will not matter much since there are already witnesses.
According to Abrahano, the shooting was prompted by personal differences between Navarro and Lim in the neighborhood. Navarro was reportedly critical of Lim’s activities allegedly as a drug user and a bully in the area.
Gov. Amado T. Espino was among those who expressed alarm over the incident and immediately called on the provincial police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to combine to solve the case as soon as possible upon learning of the incident early morning of Tuesday.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines- Pangasinan Chapter led by Yolanda Sotelo quickly condemned the shooting and wounding of Navarro whom it described as a practitioner that was “critical of the city government and the police for their inability to stop the menace (illegal drugs).
The NUJP also asked the law enforcers “to ensure the safety of media practitioners who are only doing their job of exposing the threats and dangers to the society, and of the entire residency whose only aspiration is to live in a peaceful environment.” (Tita Roces, Hilda M. Austria/PNA/CIO)
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