By Malu Manar
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The former station manager of Radyo Ni Juan in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat died 31 days after a gun attack.
Benjie Caballero (Photo via Ali Macabalang / MANILA BULLETIN)
Benjie Caballero, a member of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Kidapawan chapter, was shot five times in different parts of his body while waiting for a ride outside his residence also in Tacurong City on October 30.
He was rushed immediately to St. Louis Hospital where he underwent surgical operation in order to remove two bullets embedded in his lungs.
He was placed at the intensive care unit of the hospital after the surgeries.
He was transferred on November 30 to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City but expired, around 3:23 a.m., the next day, according to his younger brother Abdullah.
Caballero, according to some of his friends in media, was a hard-hitting radio commentator and has ‘lambasted’ a number of individuals holding government posts in his public affairs program on Radyo Ni Juan FM.
Investigators, though, have yet to ascertain who is responsible for Caballero's murder.
Caballero, a Muslim, will be buried under Islam rites in his hometown in M'lang, Cotabato, on Sunday.
He was also a member of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).