Judge in Zamboanga del Norte shot dead
ZAMBOANGA CITY — A regional trial court (RTC) judge in Zamboanga del Norte province was shot and killed by a lone gunman outside a courthouse in Liloy town on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Judge Reymar Lacaya of the RTC Branch 28 in Liloy was at the court’s parking area when the suspect approached and shot him at 3 p.m., according to Police Lt. Darwin Navarro, one of the local policemen at the scene.
Lacaya, 62, died while being taken to Liloy District Hospital, police said.
He was the presiding judge of the RTC in Sindangan town, also in Zamboanga del Norte, before he was named executive judge of the Liloy RTC.
In Manila, Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin urged the police to fast-track its investigation of Lacaya’s murder.
Lacaya was the 30th judge to be slain since 1999, according to the Supreme Court.
Article continues after this advertisement“The entire judiciary condemns in the strongest possible terms the killing of Judge Lacaya. I am urging the authorities to exert their best efforts for the immediate apprehension of those responsible for Judge Lacaya’s death,” Bersamin said in a statement on Thursday. —JULIE ALIPALA AND DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN
