NBI asset-turned-kidnapper's wife shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - The wife of Martin Soriano, a former asset of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) convicted for kidnapping, was shot dead in Parañaque City Saturday afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Nestor Pastoral, city police chief, said the motive has yet to be established, but investigators are looking at the involvement of Soriano’s foes in the killing of Rhea Soriano, 38.

According to Pastoral, Rhea had just come from Camp Bagong Diwa to visit her husband when she was shot in front of a bank along Doña Soledad Avenue in Barangay Don Bosco at about 5 p.m.

She was in her gray Chevrolet Optra with a certain Daisy Patinigan and a driver when two men on a motorcycle blocked their path and shot her three times. They were brought to Parañaque Doctors Hospital, where Rhea was declared dead on arrival. 

Martin’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, told The STAR that two weeks ago, a fellow inmate at Camp Bagong Diwa stabbed Martin twice as he was entering his cell.

“Martin feels that a grudge against him by his cellmates is the motive behind Rhea’s death. He was so devastated,” Panelo said over the phone. Martin is in stable condition.

Martin was recently convicted by a Makati regional trial court to life imprisonment for kidnapping and was meted an additional eight years for two counts of robbery.

The kidnapping and robbery charges against Soriano arose from an operation Soriano conducted with members of the anti-illegal drug unit of Manila Police Station 9 and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Martin has four other criminal cases pending before the Makati, Manila, and Quezon City courts, said Panelo.