POLICE investigators are still conducting a case buildup and the process of elimination to establish the motive behind the ambush-slay of Ronda Vice Mayor Atty. Jonnah John Ungab. Police are looking into several angles, including politics and personal grudge, in connection with his legal profession as he was lawyering for high-profile clients mostly involved in the illegal drug trade like self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa; Alvaro Alvaro (alias Barok), who is currently detained at the provincial jail; and Kenneth Dong, the Cebuano businessman who was involved in the P6.5 billion worth of shabu smuggled in the port of Manila.
Ungab was shot dead by still unknown assailants inside his car a few minutes after he left Qimonda IT Building (Palace of Justice). He attended Kerwin’s promulgation for the latter’s charges of illegal possession of firearms and violation of Comelec gun ban last Monday noon. He was with his wife Pearl when the attack happened. She was unhurt.
We can only speculate as to the motive of the lawyer’s murder until fully established by investigators. But in murder cases, motive cannot be easily established until the mastermind is unmasked and identified. Police can identify and file charges against assailants based on the accounts of witnesses or CCTV footage. But if the suspects do not cooperate with police, the mastermind can escape criminal prosecution.
I doubt politics had anything to do with Ungab’s murder. Mayor Nonnie Blanco is the vice mayor’s uncle. His murder may have something to do with profession as he also acted as spokesman for his clients. But it also dawned on me that Ungab could be a victim of the administration’s war on drugs. Why? This, after I stumbled on an article where no less than President Duterte warned lawyers of those involved in the illegal drug trade that they would be the next target.
The title of the article, “Duterte warns drug lords’ lawyers,” came out on Inquirer.net in December 2016, a month after the controversial killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. by the CIDG 8 operatives inside the Leyte sub-provincial jail where he was detained following the raid in his residence.
Here’s an excerpt of the article: “The ‘punisher’ may have found the next target of his deadly war on drugs: lawyers who defend drug suspects. President Duterte has served notice particularly to the attorneys of suspected drug lords, saying they had been taking advantage of the circuitous judicial process, allowing their clients to continue with their illicit activities.”
Speaking in a program on anti-corruption in Malacañang, the President noted the difficulties of securing the conviction of drug suspects because they are able to hire good lawyers. Recounting his experience as a former government prosecutor in Davao City, he said private lawyers can delay the resolution even of simple criminal cases. That is their style. The drug personalities are able to post bail because they have good lawyers. Then their clients play again. The President then warned: “Even their lawyers, I will include them,” the article said.
Months before Duterte issued the warning, one of Kerwin Espinosa’s lawyer based in Tacloban City, Atty. Rogelio Bato Jr., was murdered by unknown assailants in that city. Maybe I just misinterpreted Duterte’s warning. Either it’s a legal move or extra-judicial like what happened to those fallen drug lords.
The late Mayor Espinosa, in his affidavit taken by former Albuera chief of police Jovie Espenido, also named Ungab as one of his protectors. Espenido, in an interview over GMA 7 Cebu’s Balitang Bisdak, said
Ungab was not only a lawyer for the Espinosas but he was also allegedly part of their illegal drug trade.
I can only surmise about the timing that the killing of Ungab coincided with the presence of Kerwin during a court promulgation here. If there was another interested party who wanted to get Ungab, they could have done it a few months ago. He was an easy target because he had no bodyguards. But why kill him after Kerwin’s court attendance? Morag makapaduda ba?