Village chief arrested for 2007 murder of lawyer in Calamba City

A barangay chairperson in Calamba City, Laguna, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly killing a lawyer and official of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines eight years ago.

Florencio Morales Jr., was apprehended right inside his office in Barangay Real, Calamba City, on Saturday afternoon, along with his bodyguard, Bernard Palacio.

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group served on Morales an arrest warrant for the murder of a prominent lawyer in the city way back in June 2007.

Chief Supt. Victor Deona, the CIDG director, said Morales was wanted for the killing of lawyer Demetrio Hilbero, the local chapter president of the IBP in Laguna, eight years ago.

“He is among the top 20 most wanted persons in the Calabarzon region and has a P90,000 bounty on his head,” Deona said.

Morales was arrested at around 2:15 p.m. Saturday inside the barangay hall of Barangay Real.

Calamba Judge Antonio Manzano issued an arrest warrant for the barangay chairman for Hilbero’s murder. In 2011, two other suspects were arrested while another accomplice remains at large.

Also arrested with Morales was Palacio, his alleged bodyguard, for his illegal possession of an unlicensed .357 revolver with ammunition.

Hilbero, an IBP official, was shot dead near his law office in Calamba City eight years ago after he attended mass at the nearby St. John the Baptist Church.

The lawyer and his wife were aboard their car when four motorcycle-riding men approached him and gunned him down.

At that time, Hilbero was the political adviser of then mayoral candidate Joaquin Chipeco, who was running against Calamba City councilor Moises Morales in the 2007 elections.