Maria Vilma Lozano-Rodriguez, a radio broadcaster and single mother of four, was shot dead in a village in Zamboanga City.
According to the police report, Maria was shot three times in Barangay Tumaga while she was inside a store with several family members. She was rushed to the Zamboanga City Medical Center, where she was declared dead upon arrival.
The suspect, one of Maria’s nephews, has been arrested by the police, who are led by Police Station 7 chief Maj. Ramon Acquiatan Jr.
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“Initial investigation showed that the circumstances leading to this incident are not related to the victim’s work as a member of the media,” Kimberly Molitas, director of the Zamboanga City Police Office, stated.
“We have identified persons of interest, hence we seek everyone’s cooperation to wait for the update on this case while we conduct a hot pursuit operation,” Molitas added.
Rey Bayoging, an executive of independent media company EMedia, revealed that Maria Vilma Lozano-Rodriguez was with their “Barangay Action Center” radio program for about a year.
He added that she was a good community leader with excellent qualities. This prompted the company to provide her with a radio program that discussed barangay affairs. However, Bayoging believes the criminal’s actions have nothing to do with her work.
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“It was not a hard-hitting program. It appeared the incident was not related to the media work but more personal,” Bayoging stated.
Bayoging also mentioned that Maria’s children explained her conflict with some family members. They added that she was verbally assaulted, and the issue reached the barangay for settlement.
“Vilma informed her children that she was getting death threats, but she never informed us about this,” he added.
Maria Vilma Lozano-Rodriguez is the second female journalist to be murdered in Zamboanga City. The first was Gloria Martin, who was killed on December 30, 1992.
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