IN LESS than a month, another lawyer was gunned down in broad daylight by riding-in-tandem suspects in Danao City on Thursday, December 17, 2020.
Police identified the victim as Atty. Baby Maria Concepcion Landero-Ole, of Camaligbato, Barangay Taboc, Danao City.
Landero-Ole was declared dead on arrival at the nearby hospital after the shooting incident in Barangay Looc, Danao City.
Police Major Theresa T. Macatangay, Danao City Police Station Chief, said Landero-Ole was onboard her pick-up when ambushed by gunmen.
Macatangay said Landero-Ole was south-bound when gunmen, who appear to be following her, peppered her vehicle while stopping in a traffic junction.
She said according to witnesses the suspects fled going to the southern part of Cebu province.
Labandero-Ole, police said is the wife of Juanito Flores Ole, an alleged known drug lord and an ex-convict from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
Juanito was shot dead on May 27, 2020, at the terminal of Danao City shortly after he was released from prison.
Atty. Ria Lidia Espina, IBP-Cebu Province chapter president, in a statement, said the IBP Cebu vehemently condemns in the strongest terms the killing of Atty. Landero-Ole.
This latest violence adds to the list of numerous unsolved cases of killings in Cebu perpetrated by assassins who remain unidentified. This attack is not only an attack against the life of an officer of the court but is also an assault on the legal profession and to the rule of law, Espina said.
The forging of a memorandum of understanding between the CPPO and the IBP Cebu has all the more become imperative and urgent to ensure the security and protection of lawyers who are vanguards of justice, she added.
IBP Cebu calls on the public to cooperate in the investigation and share information that may be crucial for the swift resolution of this case and eventual stopping of these vicious acts, Espina further said.
On October 10, 2020, Atty. James Joseph Gupana was ambushed in Lapu-Lapu City. Gupana survived the attempt on his life.
Atty. Joey Luis Wee, who had handled high-profile cases, was gunned down by riding-in-tandem suspects on November 23, 2020, outside his law office at Alchi Business Center on J. Panis St. in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City.
Early this month, one of the six suspects of Wee's murder was arrested in Laguna. The investigation is ongoing.| (AYB, GPL, RSR, MVG)