Lone gunman kills retired PAO chief in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental

DUMAGUETE CITY—A retired chief of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) was shot dead by a lone gunman on Tuesday outside the Palace of Justice in Bayawan City, about 100 kilometers south of here.

Lawyer Ramon Elesteria was shot at close range in the chest and head while the victim was walking to his car at the parking lot, said Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, acting police director of Negros Oriental.
Elesteria was in Bayawan to attend a court hearing at Regional Trial Court Branch 63 where a client stood accused in a drug case.

Cyrus Riconalla, president of Integrated Bar of the Philippines Negros Oriental chapter, condemned the killing of Elesteria.
He said he would call for an emergency meeting of the IBP Negros Oriental chapter officers and board of directors on Wednesday to issue a resolution on the murder of Elesteria.
Riconalla urged the police to identity and arrest the perpetrators.