ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 28, 2014) – A Filipino judge was shot and killed near his home on Friday as headed to work in Zamboanga Coty in southern Philippines, police said.
Two motorcycle gunmen attacked Judge Reynerio Estacio, of the Regional Trial Court Branch 14, who was with his wife in the family car in Tugbungan village. The woman was unscathed in the attack. The car’s wind shield bore 7 bullet holes. The assailants fled after the shooting.
Police said Estacio was rushed to hospital, but died along the way, according Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, a regional police spokesman. “The victim was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physician,” he said.
Huesca said police are still investigating the motive of the killing and those behind it. “A follow up investigation is being conducted by the police to determine the identities and arrest of the assailants,” he said.
Estacio had held various high profile criminal cases in Zamboanga – from murders to drugs to politics, among others – and was even cited by the government for his convictions of human traffickers.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines condemned the killing of Estacio. Gun attacks are not uncommon in Zamboanga where hired killers are actively operating and among its victims were lawyers, traders, soldiers and policemen, civilians and even journalists. (Mindanao Examiner)
20