TACLOBAN CITY- Ridiculous and far from the truth.
Thus said the nephew of slain judge Roberto Navidad who was named by President Rodrigo Duterte as a protector to the illegal drug trade.
Navidad was shot to death on January 15, 2008 by still unidentified assailant inside his vehicle in Calbayog City where he served as the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court(RTC)- Branch 32.
But on Sunday (August 7), Pres. Duterte named Navidad as among the judges said to be protectors of drug lords.
“That is a big lie. The reason why he was shot to death was because he fought with the drug lords in Calbayog City,” Elias Acosta, who works as a court sheriff at RTC-Branch 7 based in the city, said in a text message.
“He was my uncle. I know him from head to foot. He was not a drug protector. He was a drug eliminator or a drug buster. That is why he was shot dead by these syndicates,” he added.
Before his assignment to Calbayog, Navidad served as the presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 7 here in Tacloban for almost 10 years.
He also served as mayor of MacArthur, a town in Eastern Samar from 1972 to 1979. He then began his law practice.
In 2007 elections, Navidad announced his plan to run for vice governor of Eastern Samar but later abandoned the plan.
His family now lives in the United States.
His murder remains unresolved eight years since he was gunned down by his assailant.
(EILEEN BALLESTEROS NAZARENO/JOEY A. GABIETA)
