By Jeffrey Damicog
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been tasked to investigate the recent killing of a lawyer in Negros Oriental, said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra (TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Guevarra, himself, gave the directive to the NBI on July 26 after President Rodrigo Duterte recently called for the thorough investigation of the killing of lawyer Anthony Trinidad.
“No other specific instructions except to get the killers,” the Secretary stressed.
Last Tuesday afternoon, Trinidad was gunned down by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental.
Trinidad was driving his car on his way home from a court hearing when the ambush occurred.
He was rushed to the hospital along with his wife, who was also shot, but he was declared dead-on-arrival.
“The Office of the President strongly condemns the killing of Atty. Anthony Trinidad by two gunmen aboard a motorcycle in Negros Oriental, as well as the infliction of bodily harm upon his wife,” Malacanang Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo had revealed the President has “already ordered a thorough probe on the incident to determine who these perpetrators are and to ascertain the motive of the ambush.”
“We cannot further stress the atrociousness of the act should it be discovered that the felony is work-related,” he said.
“We will prosecute these killers and ensure that they will face the appropriate punishment for such criminal act as we commit to deliver justice not just for the family of Atty. Trinidad but for the entire Filipino community,” he added.
Read more: Duterte orders investigation of killing of Negros Oriental lawyer