CEBU CITY – A lawyer and her 19-year-old son were wounded after they were attacked by two motorcycle-riding gunmen in Mandaue City on Thursday night, Sept. 1.
Karen Quiñanola-Gonzales, 43, and her son Jeremy Keith were on their way home aboard a Honda sedan when they were waylaid on Hernan Cortes St., Barangay Tipolo.
Brig. Gen. Roque Eduardo Vega, chief of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO 7), has ordered an in-depth investigation of the shooting.
"I have directed the City Director of Mandaue City Police Office to conduct a thorough investigation and manhunt operation for possible identity and arrest of the suspects,” said Vega.
According to the police, the lawyer, who was driving the car, sustained a bullet wound in the neck while her son was hit in the back. They were rushed to a hospital after the attack.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu City chapter condemned the attack and offered a P50,000 cash reward “to anyone who can give information that will lead to the capture of the shooter and all those who may have a hand to its commission.”
“September is the rule of law month. But today has left us in utter shock and disbelief, as there is yet again, another attack against a member of the legal profession,” IBP-Cebu City said in a statement.
“We should not allow shooting incidents to be a common fare in the news. The usual statement denouncing or condemning an attack done to any person, after the initial dismay of learning of the senseless harm done, will not cut it,” it added.
IBP-Cebu City said its security committee “will actively take part in the investigation that will be conducted by law enforcement authorities.”
“We call for the swift delivery of justice against all those who do harm and destroy the common good. We enjoin everyone to work together with us to protect the rights of every person and secure the safety of our community.”
Gonzales works at the Cebu Port Authority. She is a former journalist who finished her mass communications degree at the University of the Philippines-Cebu.
She finished law at the University of San Carlos here.