DENR prober of forest land disputes shot dead

BRAZEN STREET ATTACK The body of Dominador Lucas, an employee of DENR-Rizal, lies on the street in Barangay De la Paz, Antipolo City, after he was shot twice in the head while he was about to take a tricycle to report for work. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

An employee of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Rizal province in charge of investigating several forest land disputes was shot dead in Antipolo City on Friday morning.

Dominador Lucas, 54, head of the Compliance Monitoring and Investigation unit of DENR-Rizal, was gunned down in Barangay De la Paz around 8:25 a.m., according to a report reaching the Rizal Provincial Police.

SPO2 Ruben Ferrer said Lucas was walking and about to ride a tricycle to go to work in Taytay, Rizal, when a gunman shot him in the face and head.

Lucas suffered two gunshot wounds. He died on the spot.

Slain in crowded area

The gunman fled to Sumulong Highway with his cohort who was waiting on Taktak Bridge. They both rode a pink Yamaha Mio motorbike with no plate number, the report said.

The killing happened in an area full of people but they refused to give any account to the police, Ferrer said.

The only witness who surfaced, however, could not identify the gunman as he was wearing a full mask and a ball cap, while the cohort was wearing a helmet, the investigator added.

Robbery ruled out

“He was handling several cases so it’s difficult to say (whether the killing had anything to do with his work) at the moment. The Soco (scene of the crime) unit had just finished its  investigation,” said DENR Rizal chief Eleazar Alaira.

The police have ruled out robbery.

The Antipolo police were looking into his work as one of the possible motives.

“So far, I could not see anything yet. I reviewed the messages on his cell phone. There was no text messages or threats that may lead to the perpetrator …. only official messages,” Ferrer said.

Lucas’ two children went to the Antipolo Police station to help with the investigation.

“Our investigators have talked to the (victim’s) family and they said he didn’t have any enemy or had received any threat,” said Sr. Supt. Lou Evangelista, Rizal police director.