Cebu lawyer, son hurt in ambush

MANILA, Philippines — A lawyer at the Cebu Port Authority and her son were wounded in an ambush in Mandaue City on Thursday.

Karen Quinanola-Gonzales, 43, was driving home with her son Jeremy Keith, 19, when they were waylaid by motorcycle-riding men along Hernan Cortes street in Barangay Tipolo at around 9 p.m., Central Visayas police director Brig. Gen. Roque Eduardo Vega said.

The victims were brought to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

Vega ordered a manhunt for the gunmen who fled toward an unknown direction.

Probers said the motive for the gun attack may be work-related.

Gonzales is the manager of the business marketing and development department at the Cebu port.

Col. Franco Rodulf Oriol, Mandaue police deputy chief, said probers are gathering footage of closed-circuit television cameras from the time the Gonzales went out of her office.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) condemned the ambush even as it called for a ”swift delivery of justice against all those who do harm and destroy the common good.”

The IBP said its Cebu City chapter is offering a reward of P50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the gunman and all those behind the crime. – Mitchelle Palaubsanon/The Freeman