Quezon City prosecutor shot dead

MANILA, Philippines – A government prosecutor was shot dead in Quezon City early yesterday. 

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the killing of Quezon City prosecutor Noel Mingoa, who used to be an associate in his previous law firm.

“He was a very good man and a very competent litigator. I already asked the NBI to conduct an investigation and apprehend the perpetrator/s of this heinous crime,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre directed the NBI to look into the possibility that the killing could be related to Mingoa’s work as a prosecutor.

He said probers would check on the cases previously and currently being handled by Mingoa.

Aguirre believes that there is also a possibility that the killing was retaliation by criminals to the government’s fight against drugs and corruption.

Mingoa was talking to someone on his phone while standing in front of a restaurant along Commonwealth Avenue in Barangay Old Balara at around 1:20 a.m. when a lone gunman attacked him.

The unidentified gunman emerged from a black vehicle and shot the victim at close range.

Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Homicide Division chief Senior Insp. Elmer Monsalve said they are in the process of retrieving any CCTV footage in the area that could show the killing of Mingoa.

Monsalve added Mingoa’s family did not receive threats prior to the killing.

QCPD director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said several text messages found in Mingoa’s phone showed he was about to meet three men at a nearby bar to discuss a business investment that had turned sour.

Initial investigation revealed Mingoa was supposed to sort out a P3-million investment where the victim was paid in fake US dollar bills.

Eleazar said they are still verifying the business the unnamed victim reportedly invested in. – With Romina Cabrera, Edu Punay