NBI joins cops to hasten probe of Cebu lawyer’s slay

CEBU CITY—The National Bureau of Investigation has started its own probe to help police in hastening the resolution of the murder of lawyer Joey Luis Wee, who was shot and killed on his way to his office here on Monday.

“We need to expedite the resolution of this case, hence we decided to come in and help our counterparts in the Philippine National Police,” said Rennan Oliva, the NBI director for Central Visayas.

The bureau has talked to some witnesses who were in the vicinity of the crime scene in Barangay Kasambagan, Oliva said, but no one was willing to testify out of fear that the people behind the killing would get back at them.

Both the NBI and the police could not say if Wee had received death threats before the attack as they had yet to talk with the lawyer’s family.

“We respect the family’s privacy for now, especially that they are still mourning,” Oliva said.

Good reputationThe murder of Wee, 51, came almost a week after another lawyer, Eric Jay Magcamit, 35, was slain in Palawan province.According to Police Col. Josefino Ligan, Cebu City police director, Wee had a good reputation as a lawyer and was not on the narcolist of President Duterte and law enforcement units.

Most of the cases Wee handled involved civil and corporate matters, Ligan said.

Investigators had secured a closed-circuit television camera footage of the killing, but had a hard time identifying the two gunmen who were wearing full-face helmets and jackets.“For now, we don’t have any suspects yet. That is why we need the cooperation of the victim’s family so they can shed light on the case,” Ligan said, noting that Wee’s slay was possibly job-related. INQ