'Don't be alarmed on P'sinan slays'

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – “No need to be alarmed.”

Thus said Senior Superintendent Rosueto Ricaforte, Pangasinan police director, as he allayed the apprehension of board members and lawyers on the killings of two lawyers this month and other unsolved crimes across the province. 

Lawyer Farah Decano, Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Pangasinan chapter president, said, “It becomes a special concern (for the IBP) if the killing is pursuant to the practice of our profession.”

Ricaforte said statistics show there has been a significant decrease in killings in the province this year compared to last year when elections were held.

He said he has created a task group to solve Tuesday’s gunslaying of 74-year-old lawyer Leonardo Jimenez, former Region 8 director of the National Bureau of Investigation.