Police: No comment on possible motive

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A lawyer was declared dead on arrival by Bacolod Doctors’ Hospital staff after he was gunned down yesterday morning in front of his home at Galo-Hilado Streets in Barangay 20, Bacolod City.

Police identified the fatality as 62-year-old Atty. Rafael Atutubo.

Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director, Police Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, said, based on initial investigations, Atutubo was having breakfast in front of his house when he was shot and struck in the left eye by two bonnet-wearing men.

Ebreo said reports are also being verified claiming three police officers were in the area at the time fixing motorcycles at a nearby mechanic shop.

“We did not receive any information about the presence of our men in the area,” Ebreo said. “However, if they were present in the area, they should have responded accordingly.”

Ebreo also refused to say why Atutubo was targeted, but a source told local media the lawyer previously handled several drug cases in the city.

Police are presently probing the incident, while a follow-up operation against the gunmen is ongoing./DGB, WDJ