The Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Negros Oriental chapter and the Silliman University College of Law Alumni have issued separate statements condemning the murder of lawyer Ray Moncada and seeking justice for his death.
The statements were issued after Moncada succumbed to complications arising from multiple gunshot wounds on Monday, 10 days after he was shot.
The 74-year-old Moncada was shot Jan. 3 at his residence here by two suspects on board a motorcycle.
The IBP-Negros Oriental, headed by lawyer Nilo Ruperto, said the lawyers’ group in the Province is mourning the death of their colleague.
Ruperto said he could not understand why Moncada, who was his batchmate in the 1987 Bar exams, was shot and killed for doing his job.
He said anyone who held a grudge after Moncada could have just filed a case in court against him rather than commit a barbaric act.
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Meanwhile, SULAW strongly condemned what it described as a senseless killing of an alumnus.
“We lost a good man,” the group, through its president, lawyer Pristine Raymond, said.
“He was a man of few yet powerful words. A devoted family man, a great lawyer, a mentor, and a friend — Atty. Moncada was an exceptional human being,” the group’s statement further read.
SULAW said Moncada “practiced law with a conscience,” and “only fought for what was right and just”.
“This glaring disrespect of the law and our justice system is alarming. Lawyers are plucked from this world with impunity. No words can describe the horror that we all face,” it added.
SULAW members are seeking justice for the late Moncada, and also pray for the safety of those in the law profession.
Moncada was laid to rest on Saturday while the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office gears up to dig deeper into his death following the creation of a Special Investigation Task Group headed by Provincial Police Director, Col. Julian Entoma.
Entoma had said the triggerman appeared to be a gun-for-hire, and was the same person who shot and killed a “drug personality” in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental; although the possible motives for both killings were not in any way connected. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
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