SORSOGON CITY – Police have created a special investigation task group on Tuesday morning that will dig deeper into the killing of Sorsogon’s hard-hitting commentator Joebert “Polpog” Bercasio.
Sorsogon City Police Chief Lt. Col. Benito E. Dipad, Jr. told The Manila Bulletin a special task group has been created that will focus mainly on the investigation of Bercasio’s killing.
“Sa ngayon po patuloy pa ang imbestigasyon at humihingi po kami sainyo ng paumanhin kung hindi kaagad kami nakakapag bigay kaagad impormasyon dahil baka makasama sa imbestigasyon,” he explained.
He admitted that, as of press time, probers were still clueless as to the motive for the killing.
“Lahat po ng anggulo tinitingnan natin. Personal man po o trabaho niya,” Dipad said.
Meanwhile, friends and colleagues cried for justice for the slain radioman by airing their sentiments over several radio stations in the province and in social media as well.
Former Sorsogon-Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) Chairman Ramil “Doods” Marianito condemned the killing, so with current Chairman Andy Espinar, station manager of OK-FM Sorsogon.
Bercasio, a commentator of Balangibog Internet TV, was gunned down by unidentified assailants riding in-tadem just outside the Seabreeze Homes Subdivision along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Cabidan, Sorsogon City, at around 8 p.m., Monday.
The area where he was shot was just 100 meters from the Sorsogon City Police headquarters.
“As we condole with his family for the untimely demise of their beloved Joebert we also call on our authorities to exert all efforts, solve with dispatch this senseless killing and hale to court the perpetrators of this gruesome murder,” Marianito said.
Espinar also disclosed that the victim left behind three young children, and a pregnant wife.
“Three little children and an expectant wife, who broke the good news of an incoming baby boy a day before his murder, were left behind by the victim. As we condole with his family, we also call on the authorities to exert all efforts, solve with dispatch this senseless killing and bring to court the perpetrators of this gruesome murder,” Espinar said in his statement.
According to Espinar, Bercasio was a former reporter at DZMS-AM Sorsogon (DZMS-AM changed their name to OK-FM) five years ago, and transferred to different radio stations until he left mainstream media to work for an online news television.
Espinar believed that the killing of Bercasio was a work-related incident.
The killing of Bercasio was the second media killing in Sorsogon since August, according to Espinar.
Last August 13, a disk jockey of Padaba FM in Bulan town, identified as DJ Ric Ian Bill De Leon, was also shot dead by still unidentified gunmen outside his residence in Managa-naga village.
“As long as these killers remain at large, the lives of media practitioners in Sorsogon and other parts of Bicol are in grave danger,” Espinar said.
Read more: Sorsogon’s hard-hitting commentator shot to death