Mindoro prosecutor wounded in gun attack

MANILA, Philippines — The provincial prosecutor of Oriental Mindoro was wounded in a gun attack yesterday.

Josephine Olivar was about to enter her home in Barangay Bayanan I, Calapan City when a lone gunman arrived at around 9:30 a.m. and shot her several times.

Olivar suffered two gunshot wounds in the head and three in other parts of the body.

“The victim was rushed to a hospital while the suspect fled,” Lt. Col. Socrates Faltado, spokesman for the Mimaropa police, said.

A statement from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Oriental Mindoro chapter said Olivar is now in stable condition.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a probe and run after the perpetrators.

“We don’t have enough information yet regarding the possible motive, but chances are it’s work-related. I have instructed NBI Director Dante Gierran and the regional director to gather evidence and conduct a thorough investigation,” Guevarra said in a text message.

Following the incident, Guevarra reiterated the DOJ’s call for Congress to pass a bill increasing the benefits of members of the prosecution service who are victims of violence.

“Our prosecutors’ lives are always at risk due to the nature of their job. We’re hoping that the incoming Congress will be more sympathetic to the bill providing survivorship benefits,” he said.

The DOJ said eight prosecutors have been attacked since June 2016. – Edu Punay