DAVAO CITY — Junnel Gerozaga, the alleged gunman in the murder of Kidapawan City broadcaster Ed Dizon in 2019 was transferred to Maa City Jail here on Tuesday morning.
Gerozaga personally showed up to Regional Trial Court Branch 16 Judge Emmanuel Carpio who ordered his commitment to Maa BJMP
The 33-year-old suspect is a resident of Saguing, Makilala town in North Cotabato, his Barangay is adjacent to Kidapawan City where Dizon was murdered while on his way home.
Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Paul Gutierrez on May 3 revealed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) DIZON, informed their agency that Junell Jane Andagkit Poten, alias, ‘Junell Gerozaga,’ was arrested past 8:00 pm on May 2, 2024, by combined elements from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 and the Makilala Municipal Police Station while at the house of a barangay kagawad in Saguing.
Cotabato Regional Prosecutor Al Calinga, in a report to the PNP, said an informant provided them with positive information on the whereabouts of Poten.
During his arrest, Gerozaga admitted he had been hiding in many places during the last five years and sometimes come home.
The suspect was identified after a new witness surfaced and identified him as the gunman.
Makilala town police chief Lt. Col. John Miridel Calinga escorted the suspect to Davao City under airtight security.
Gutierrez earlier said the PTFoMS was informed that Poten’s co-accused and alleged mastermind, Dante Encarnacion Tabusares, aka, ‘Bong Encarnacion,’ was granted bail by the Davao City Regional Trial Court last March 12.
While another co-accused Sotero ‘Jun’ Jacolbe, was also granted bail and subsequently acquitted by the court last March 8.
“These accomplishments by the government again prove that no one can escape from the long arms of the law and that through the PTFoMS guiding its member agencies, it has an effective and working mechanism to address all violence against the life, liberty, and security of all members of the media.
“With the arrest of Gerozaga, we are also confident this will strengthen the case against Encarnacion, the alleged mastermind,” Gutierrez said.
Information gathered by the PTFoMS at the time indicated that the suspects plotted to kill Dizon over his stringent criticism of Encarnacion and the KAPA Ministry which was ordered closed by the government in 2019 for being a front for financial scam. Encarnacion is the leader of KAPA in North Cotabato at that time.
The Local Government of Kidapawan City offered a P200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, Gerozaga while an unnamed public servant, according to PTFoMS offered an additional P500,000, raising the bounty to P700,000.
Dizon is among the victims of media killings in Mindanao since 1986.
