Policeman shoots lawyer dead

CEBU, Philippines - A policeman voluntarily surrendered after killing a lawyer yesterday noon at Brgy. Pu-ao in Hamtic town of Antique.

PO2 Jose Suarez of Hamtic Police Station yielded to Supt. Jose Roy Torechilla, director of the Antique Public Safety Company, two hours after he gunned down lawyer John Mark Espera.

Senior Supt. Marlon Ganzon, Antique Police chief, said investigation is still going on now to determine what really transpired during the incident.

Sketchy reports of Hamtic PNP claimed that Espera was at Brgy. Pu-ao to attend to a client. But when he and companion, Romeo Gasalao, were about to leave, Suarez's brother Bimboy dared the lawyer to a fistfight.

Police initial accounts claimed that Suarez went out of his house shortly and shot the victim. The policeman however said he first saw his brother and the lawyer engaged in a fistfight, and that while the two were grappling for a gun, he shot the lawyer in the process.

Initial probe showed that the incident stemmed from old grudges between Bimboy and the victim over an election-related case against the lawyer's client. — (FREEMAN)