A Regional Trial Court Judge in Cebu has convicted three of the four accused in the killing of lady journalist/columnist Marlene Esperat, and sentenced them to life imprisonment for murder (death penalty has been suspended).
The three convicted were Randy Grecia, Jerry Cabayag and Estanislao Bismanos (picture above). The court acquitted Rowie Barua due to lack of evidence.
Marlene Esperat was a columnist for Sultan Kudarat paper The Midland Review. She also had a stint as a block-time radio broadcaster. Popularly known as "Madame Witness" because of her public service media exposés, she was also elected president of Region 12's Tri-Media Association by her peers.
During her employment in the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 12 from 1987 to 2004, she uncovered numerous cases of graft and corrupt practices allegedly committed by public officials involving rampant misuse of public funds intended for the use of marginalized farmers.
She accused Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay, Region 12 Finance Officer and Regional Accountant, respectively, as "corrupt" DA officials. Esperat worked on numerous cases, such as the unremitted government's share of GSIS premiums of DA 12 employees from January to December 1997.
This was the second time that the Regional Trial Court in Cebu has meted the maximum penalty to the killers of a journalist. Early this year, another Regional Trial Court Judge sentenced to death the convicted killer of The Freeman photojournalist Allan Dizon.
