TACLOBAN CITY– The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Leyte Chapter has condemned a shooting incident that wounded a lawyer and a court sheriff that transpired on Wednesday (Jan.25) while they were serving a court-issued writ of demolition.
The group said that they are seeking that justice be served to both lawyer Alexander Lacaba,60, and court sheriff Adolfo Petilla,59.
Both are still recuperating at the hospital due to the gunshot wounds they sustained.
“The Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Leyte Chapter strongly condemns this unlawful and vicious act of disrupting a sacred judicial process thru use of violence,” the group said on its open letter.
“The chilling effect of this incident to the members of the legal profession will certainly be felt for quite a while. But we will not cower in fair,” the IBP-Leyte chapter added on its statement.
The group called on authorities to act on this issue ‘swiftly’ otherwise, this could establish a negative precedence for future litigants.
“Lawyers and court officers are only doing their jobs. Getting shot or injured while doing so should never come along with the peaceful administration of justice,” it stressed.
Both Lacaba and Petilla, joined by some police personnel from Palo, were in Barangay Cavite West to serve a writ of demolition of a house.
However, the suspect, Conrado Boren, Sr.,67, suddenly appeared and fired toward the group, hitting Lacaba on his foot and Petilla who sustained a bullet wound on his spine.
Boren, who is incidentally assisted by the Public Attorney’s Office, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and is now detained at the Palo lock-up facility.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
