By CALVIN CORDOVA
CEBU City – The vice mayor of a southern town in Cebu was killed in an ambush perpetrated by motorcycle-riding assailants Monday in Cebu City.
Lawyer Jonah John Ungab, the vice mayor of Ronda town, Cebu, suffered gunshot wounds in the body and head and died while he was being brought to a nearby hospital in Mandaue City.
The 44-year-old Ungab was with his wife, Pearl, when he was waylaid moments after attending a court hearing in Cebu regarding the case of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
Police are still investigating possible motives on the killing of Ungab who is Espinosa’s lead counsel.
The ambush took place a few meters from the Hall of Justice in Qimonda Building along North Reclamation Area Cebu City.
Espinosa was convicted for violating the election gun ban after he was caught carrying a firearm in 2010 but his illegal possession of firearms case was dismissed.
The lawyer, who was driving a Suzuki Kizashi with license plate KFX 893, was about to turn left on Sergio Osmeña Road when a motorcycle boarded by two men drove beside the driver’s seat.
One of the motorcycle riders then fired shots at Ungab before they sped off.
Police said it was possible that after he was hit, Ungab stepped hard on the car’s accelerator that caused him to ram a taxi before stopping in front of a hotel.
The car bore three bullet holes, two in the left window and one on the windshield.
Ungab was the second lawyer of Espinosa who was ambushed. Last August 23, 2016, Rogelio Bato Jr. was gunned down by still-unidentified assailants in Leyte.