The recent killing of Manila Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Jovencio Senados may have something to do with one of the cases he handled, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Thursday, July 9.
(TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The justice secretary also said he is confident that the murder of Manila's chief inquest prosecutor will soon be solved.
“Prosecutor Senados had been in the prosecution service for many years,” said Guevarra.
“As chief of the inquest division of OCP (Office of the City Prosecutor) Manila, he had probably handled hazardous cases that had placed his personal security at great risk,” he pointed out.
Last Tuesday, July 7, the 62-year-old prosecutor was gunned down while aboard his car at around 11:05 a.m. along Quirino Highway corner Anakbayan St. in Paco, Manila.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage in the area showed that unidentified assailants used two vehicles in the attack.
That same day, Guevarra issued Department Order No. 169 which directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) “to conduct an investigation and case build-up on the killing of SACP Jovencio A. Senados of the Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila on 07 July 2020 in Paco, Manila, and, if evidence warrants, to file the appropriate charges against persons involved and found responsible therefor.”
The secretary also instructed NBI Officer-In-Charge Eric Distor “to submit reports in the progress of the subject investigation and case build-up to the Office of the Secretary within ten days.”
Meanwhile, the NBI-National Capital Region (NBI-NCR) under Regional Director Cesar Bacani has already started its investigation of the case pursuant to the directive of Guevarra.