PTFoMS tags carnival operator as gunman in P’panga journalist’s slay

ARAYAT, Pampanga – The Presidential Task Force on Media Security announced on Thursday that the suspected gunman of a tabloid columnist and his companion in Pampanga has been identified.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who co-chairs the PTFoMS, said the gunman was identified as Armando Maglaya Velasco, who works for a local carnival operator in Barangay Cacutud in Arayat.

Citing a report from PTFoMS Executive Director Joel Egco, Andanar said the gunman had initially sent surrender feelers through his wife.

“I commend the Task Force, the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) Region 3 and the Arayat Police headed by Lt. Col. Dale Soliba for a job well done. This proves that this administration will stop at nothing to hold perpetrators of violence against media workers to account,” Andanar said in a statement.

“They can run and hide but the long arm of the law will eventually catch up on them,” the Palace official official said.

On Oct. 20, journalist Jupiter Gonzales and his companion, Christopher Tiongson, were shot dead inside their car after what appeared to be a heated altercation with the gunman.

Tiongson was killed on the spot, while Gonzales died before reaching Arayat District Hospital.

Andanar said closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage showed Velasco attempting to grab the steering wheel from the wounded driver in an attempt to commandeer the vehicle.