NBI to probe killing of Manila RTC judge

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Friday tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the fatal shooting of a 44-year-old Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge by her court aide right inside her office.

The police had already declared the killing on Wednesday of Manila RTC Branch 45 Judge Maria Theresa Abadilla as solved since her attacker, clerk of court Amador Rebato Jr., had killed himself after committing the crime.

Nonetheless, Guevarra said he had ordered the NBI to conduct its own investigation of the incident.

“Though Judge Abadilla’s death appears to have arisen from an internal issue with her clerk of court, I have … directed the NBI to conduct a parallel probe considering that the incident has implications on the personal security of our judges and justices,” Guevarra said.

Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta had ordered Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez to review the existing security arrangements for judges to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Peralta expressed grief over the killing of Abadilla, who had worked as a law clerk in the Supreme Court for over a decade before she became an RTC judge.

According to police investigators, Abadilla was talking to Rebato, who was infected with coronavirus in August, about his poor work performance when he suddenly took out a gun and shot her in the head.