Lawyer's killer gets 17 years in jail

SAN FERNANDO, La Union – A former bodyguard of Laoag City mayor Michael Farinas was convicted of homicide for the 2007 killing of the city’s legal officer. 

In an 18-page decision last Thursday, Judge Francisco Quilala of Regional Trial Court Branch 14 found Efren Alagao guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the killing of lawyer Jose Antonio Pastor and sentenced him to 10 to 17 years’ imprisonment.

Alagao was also ordered to pay at least P125,000 in damages.

An eyewitness positively identified Alagao as the one who shot Pastor several times in his law office a block away from the Laoag City Hall on Dec. 18, 2007. 

The prosecution, however, failed to pin down two other suspects, Mark Taylan and Petronilo Rabena, as well as two other alleged conspirators. 

Police said the suspects belonged to the Rabena gun-for-hire group. – With Teddy Molina, Artemio Dumlao