MPD: No premeditation in judge’s slay

MANILA, Philippines — Investigators have established that there was no premeditation in the killing of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 45 Judge Ma. Teresa Abadilla on Wednesday, the Manila Police District (MPD) said yesterday.

MPD homicide investigation chief Capt. Henry Navarro said “it was clear” that Abadilla’s clerk of court, lawyer Amador Rebato, “did not even want to go to her office because he was worried about his absenteeism, but his elder sister, who is also a lawyer, prevailed over him to explain his side before he filed his resignation.”

It took more than three minutes before Rebato’s sister convinced him to ride the taxi that would take them to the city hall on Wednesday afternoon, Navarro said.

Once inside the Branch 45 courtroom on the fifth floor, Rebato asked court researcher Juanito Roxas to accompany him to Abadilla’s chamber while his sister was left outside “because it was a personal matter between them.”

Roxas told police that there was no animosity while the two were talking and no voices were raised, until Rebato, who was also seated, brought out the firearm hidden in a clutch bag on his lap, stood up, and shot the judge pointblank.

He said the lawyer then casually sat back and shot himself in the right temple.

Navarro said Rebato’s tardiness irritated Abadilla as it affected their work and had even caused some hearings to be reset.

“As clerk of court he was practically the ponente and he has in his possession papers and documents, which were greatly affected because of his absences,” he said.

The suspect’s sister told police that Rebato had been very depressed and had contemplated resigning because he could not perform his duties after recovering from COVID-19.

Navarro said they considered the case closed but the investigation is still ongoing.

“We wanted to know the ownership of the gun. Did he have a permit to carry? Were there threats to his life? And lastly, we want to know the motive if there was any,” Navarro told The STAR.

Abadilla was the pairing judge of Manila RTC Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa, who convicted Rappler of cyberlibel.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines expressed its condolences to the families of Abadilla and Rebato as the IBP vowed to assist lawyers on stress management.

IBP president Domingo Egon Cayosa said they understand the stress that lawyers are facing in the Philippines due to the pandemic.

He also said that lawyering is a stressful profession due to the unabated killings of judges, prosecutors and lawyers and the creeping culture of violence and impunity in the Philippines.

Cayosa said that the shooting happened while the IBP and the Philippine Psychiatric Association were conducting a webinar on stress management and on mental health in the legal profession amid the pandemic. – Robertzon Ramirez