TACLOBAN CITY – The killing of the lawyer of alleged top Eastern Visayas drug lord Kerwin Espinosa on August 22, 2016 in this city remains unsolved.
Acting Tacloban City police chief Senior Supt. Rolando Bade said they are still conducting a follow-up investigation in the killing of Atty. Rogelio Bato Jr.
Bato had just appeared in a court hearing and was driving his service vehicle when he was ambushed in Sitio Lumbang, Barangay Calanipawan here. His pregnant girlfriend was also killed in the ambush.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines Leyte chapter led by its president Atty. Patrick Santos condemned the killing of Bato.
Colleagues of Bato also denounced his ambush and believed it was an extrajudicial killing as he had no known enemy.
Sources said Bato had a vital role in the illegal drug trade of Kerwin because payola or grease money to policemen and others would not be released without his countersign. (Nestor L. Abrematea)