Negros councilor’s killer gets life

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The man who shot dead Councilor Antonio Gequillana of Ilog, Negros Occidental in 2011 has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Ryan Gatoc was found guilty of the murder of Gequillana in front of the East View Hotel in Barangay Villamonte in this city, Regional Trial Court Branch 42 Judge Fernando Elumba said in a 25-page ruling promulgated on Wednesday.

Gatoc was also ordered to pay the heirs of Gequillana a total of P300,000 in moral and exemplary damages as well as civil indemnity.

Elumba said Gatoc could still appeal the ruling.

“Justice has been served but only partially... Gatoc was the gunman... but our client wanted to know who is the mastermind,” Jose Max Ortiz, one of the lawyers of the Gequillana family, said.