After fatal shooting, Ateneo Law School graduation pushes through

MANILA, Philippines — The commencement rites for Ateneo Law School graduates pushed through over the weekend after being canceled in July due to a shooting that left three persons dead, including former Lamitan City mayor Rose Furigay.

In his speech, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo took time to remember the victims and offered prayers for their families. He urged the law graduates to value their loved ones.

Furigay was shot dead as she was about to attend the graduation of her daughter at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law on July 24.

The gunman, Chao Tiao Yumol, was able to enter the campus in a Grab taxi with his firearm left unchecked.

Aside from Furigay, her aide Victor Capistrano and campus security officer Jeneven Bandiala died in the gun attack.

Yumol, a physician, was wounded in a shootout with Bandiala. The suspect was arrested by police after a car chase.

Gesmundo urged the Ateneo law graduates to be lawyers with the “highest standards of legal proficiency, morality, honesty and integrity.”