The Jun Pala murder

Jude Josue Sabio

ACCORDING to Edgar Matobato’s account, a thousand simple folks were killed in Davao City by the Davao Death Squad allegedly on orders of Digong aka Charlie Mike. To Matobato, the thousand victims killed like chickens were just unknown, nameless targets for liquidation for being pushers, addicts and petty criminals.

The murder of Jun Pala was one of several killings distinctly recalled by Matobato. Many years ago, Jun Pala was walking towards his home when he was ambushed and murdered in cold blood. But Jun Pala was not a drug pusher, addict or petty criminal. He did not fit in with the profile of the human targets for DDS liquidation.

Far from it, Jun Pala was a journalist, broadcaster and local politician. He was no ordinary man, because he had the extraordinary guts to condemn the criminal activities of the alleged Duterte Death Squad. In his regular radio broadcast, his stinging commentaries painfully stepped on the soft toes of Digong aka Charlie Mike.

In his recent media appearance after voted as President, an exasperated Digong was quick to lay the blame on the long-dead Jun Pala for his violent murder. Apparently blackening the memory of the dead, Digong dubbed Jun Pala as an unethical and corrupt media man who had his death coming for him.   What is even very remarkable is that Digong claimed that he knew who murdered Jun Pala.

Meantime, Matobato has pointed to Digong as the mastermind of the Jun Pala murder. From accounts, Jun Pala earned the enmity of Digong for his hard-hitting commentaries against Digong and the Death Squad. Recently, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines or NUJP has come out publicly through media to challenge Digong to shed light on the true and real circumstances behind the murder of Jun Pala.

Interestingly, the claim of Matobato that Duterte ordered the murder of Jun Pala appears to coincide with Digong’s admission that he knows who the killer is. If Matobato’s statement is to be believed, then it perfectly jibes with what Digong has admitted. This is precisely because as the alleged mastermind, Digong should know the culprit who is no other than himself.

Indeed, having been implicated positively by Matobato,  it is now incumbent upon Digong to respond to the challenge of NUJP, which is that he shed light on the real and true circumstances behind the murder of Jun Pala. In the interest of truth, and if only to shield himself from reasonable suspicion of guilt, Digong should disclose the real identity of the culprit, consistent with his admission that he knows the culprit.

His disclosure is even necessitated by the demands of justice. As then mayor and now as President, Digong has the sworn duty to bring the culprit to justice, no matter what he thinks about Jun Pala.  If indeed he knows the man who murdered Jun Pala, then he should reveal his identity in order to bring him to the bar of justice. If he does not reveal the culprit, Digong stands to be accused of protecting the culprit, which makes him an accessory to the crime of murder.

Digong cannot have his cake and eat it too. If he is not the killer of Jun Pala, then he must, by force of logic, reveal who really murdered Jun Pala, as he previously claimed he knows.  Otherwise, the reasonable conclusion is that what Matobato said is true, that it was Digong who ordered Jun Pala’s murder. In other words, it can be reasonably assumed as a fact that he knows who the killer is simply because that killer is no other than himself  having ordered the murder of Jun Pala, as alleged by Matobato.

One thing is striking about the Jun Pala murder. It is deeply personal to Digong. By Matobato’s account, Digong was motivated by revenge and his personal enmity arose from the public tirades hurled by Jun Pala against him. Based on Matobato’s account, to Digong, Jun Pala deserved his death for being an unethical and corrupt radio broadcaster. It was this intense enmity that appears to have Jun Pala’s death coming to him.

The unmitigated hatred of Digong, in fact, persisted even if Jun Pala has long been dead. In his recent media interview, Digong’s long-standing enmity was readily betrayed when he heartlessly withheld any hint of human sympathy for Jun Pala’s death. Instead, he heaped words of scorn and desecration upon the memory of the dead Jun Pala. He rebuked what he dubbed as unethical and corrupt media men who similarly should deserve Jun Pala’s murder. In utter contempt, he rebuffed the whole media.

The Jun Pala murder is in stark contrast to the thousand other hits allegedly carried out by the Death Squad.  Digong had no motive for personal revenge in those hits. Those were anonymous drug addicts, pushers, snatchers and petty criminals. He did not even know them by name or any other identity. It was enough that they fit into the profile for chicken-like targets of  liquidation. It was just routine work for the DDS, a measure of crime control that made Davao City the ninth safest city in the world, as boasted by Digong himself.

Another striking thing about the Jun Pala murder is that Digong admitted his knowledge about who committed the murder. In his earlier public pronouncements, what he only admitted is that he is the Davao Death Squad. By way of clarification to a question asked by a reporter, he said that he killed more than a thousand and would kill a hundred thousand more once voted as president.  But as to the Jun Pala murder, he volunteered his personal knowledge, by saying publicly that he knows who the culprit is. This was prior to the Matobato testimony.

Now after Matobato’s testimony and after the NUJP has come out with the challenge for Digong, he has not come out with a response. He has not revealed the culprit. It is therefore fitting and proper that the NUJP and other media groups should continue to take up the cudgels for Jun Pala, by pressing Digong to tell the truth. He must as a matter of public duty reveal the identity of the murderer of Jun Pala. The grave question that Digong must answer is this:  whether Digong murdered Jun Pala as alleged by Matobato or whether someone else Digong knows murdered Jun Pala as claimed by him.

The final striking feature of the Jun Pala murder transcends the motive of Digong for personal vengeance. It strikes deep right into the heart of freedom of expression and of the press and ultimately into our democratic way of life. For this is the only murder recalled by Matobato involving a journalist.

Jun Pala was fiercely critical of Digong and the Davao Death Squad.  But sadly for exercising his freedom, he was murdered and forever silenced. No doubt, his murder was intentionally designed to end with finality his ability to criticize. It symbolizes an assault with impunity on a critical press. It is an anathema to a democratic society where a free market place of ideas is essential.

Unless Digong reveals what he said he knows about the culprit behind the cold-blooded murder of Jun Pala, his death will just remain in the realm of mystery. If it serves as a comfort,  Digong has presented himself to be the key to unlocking this mystery by his revelation of the culprit. As a tough-talking, no-nonsense crime buster, Digong cannot just keep mum.  Whatever he thinks about Jun Pala is non-sense. His sworn legal duty is to reveal what he said he knows about who the culprit is. Otherwise, he will himself be a just a shameful disgrace to the Office of the President.