Lawyer slain in Pampanga
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A lawyer and his driver were shot and killed by three men in an ambush in Sta. Rita town, Pampanga province, on Tuesday morning, police said.
Lawyer Anselmo “Sato” Carlos and Marcial Mendoza had just stopped their black Toyota Camry in front of San Vicente Church on the provincial road in Sta. Rita when they were attacked at 9:30 a.m.
They died from bullet wounds in the head, neck and chest.
The shooting happened about 20 meters from the house of Gov. Dennis Pineda.
Police said the suspects used .45-caliber guns and fled on a motorcycle. An Inquirer source said one of the gunmen was an Aeta tribesman but police had yet to establish the motive of the attack.
Carlos specialized in land disputes. At one time, he ran but lost as mayor of Floridablanca town, police said.
Killings
In March last year, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) counted 38 lawyers and judges killed since President Duterte assumed office in 2016.
Several other lawyers had been reported killed in separate incidents between May and November last year, bringing to more than 40 the number of fatalities.
On May 17, 2019, two lawyers were killed in separate incidents in Pangasinan and Rizal provinces.
Lawyer Val Crisostomo of the IBP-Pangasinan chapter was standing across the Dagupan City Hall of Justice when he was shot by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle. Adilberto Golla Jr. of the IBP-Manila IV chapter, on the other hand, died after being shot repeatedly while inside his vehicle at Eastwood Greenview Subdivision in Rodriguez, Rizal. On July 23, 2019, lawyer Anthony Trinidad was shot and killed as he was driving his car in his hometown of Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental province. On Sept. 21, 2019, lawyer and retired Police Col. Jesus Acpal was gunned down outside his house in Muntinlupa City.
In November 2019, Tagudin Regional Trial Court Judge Mario Anacleto Bañez was gunned down by unidentified assailant in San Fernando City, La Union. Bañez, in a September ruling, acquitted Ibaloy activist Rachel Mariano of murder and frustrated murder charges filed by the military. —TONETTE OREJAS AND INQUIRER RESEARCH INQ
