Negros judge survives attack
BACOLOD CITY – A regional trial court judge in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental was shot and wounded Wednesday night and probers were checking reports that his recent conviction of a drug pusher had something to do with the attack.
Police said two motorcycle-riding men fired at Judge Orlando Velasco, 59, as he alighted from a motorcycle driven by his stenographer in front of his house in Barangay Villareal,
In a statement, Atty. Jose Midas Marquez, spokesman of the Supreme Court, said Velasco, of Bayawan RTC Branch 63, sustained seven bullet wounds from a caliber .45 pistol in the abdomen.
Negros Oriental police director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said two persons were picked up for questioning but were later released.
He said a motorcycle that fitted the witnesses’ descriptions was found abandoned in the adjoining town of
Police have coordinated with the National Bureau of Investigation to form a task force that will thoroughly investigate the incident.
Marquez said Velasco could have been attacked in retaliation for the life term he had meted on a drug trafficker three weeks ago. He did not identify the convict.
He said Velasco has been receiving death threats, thus prompting him to go home accompanied by his personnel.
According to Marquez, 13 judges have been slain since 1998 and these cases remain unsolved. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe and Mike Frialde
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