Court sheriffs ask NBI, CIDG to solve Tugado's killing
Court sheriffs in Iloilo will hang protest streamers to condemn the killing of one of their colleagues last week.
Lawyer Gerry Sumaculub, ex-officio provincial sheriff and Clerk of Court of the Iloilo Regional Trial Court, said the sheriffs will put up the streamers at the Ramon Q. Avancena Hall of Justice in Iloilo City to show their sentiments on the killing of court sheriff Johnny Tugado.
"We are shocked and we condemn his murder," Sumaculub said in a telephone interview.
The sheriffs are also calling on law enforcement agencies including the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to solve the killing.
"What will happen to court cases if its implementing arm will not function (because of the killing)?" said Sumaculub.
Two unidentified armed men repeatedly shot Tugado at his home in Sto. Niño Subdivision in Barangay Cagbang, Oton town around 7 km south of here last Thursday. They fled on board a motorcycle driven by a third suspect.
Tugado, 55, a sheriff assigned at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 3, died shortly at the Iloilo Doctors Hospital from bullet wounds in the head and body.
Investigators are still identifying the suspects but they believe the killing could be related to Tugado's work. The victim had participated in the serving of writs of evictions and demolition orders many of which resulted to confrontation between sheriffs and those subjected for demolition and eviction.
Sumaculub said around 40 court sheriffs in Iloilo have met to discuss additional security measures and hot to help solve the killing.
But he said they will not allow the killing to affect their work.
"It is part of the risks inherent to our work. This (killing) has unified us," said Sumaculub.