EDITORIAL - Brazen attack

Despite restrictions on mobility, armed violence continues in the country, with brazenness. On the night of June 28, a 34-year-old woman was found dead in her car in Calamba, Laguna. Jingle Lucero bore 52 stab wounds. At least a suspect has been arrested for the murder.

Last Tuesday at past 11 a.m., the chief inquest prosecutor of Manila was ambushed along Quirino Avenue in Paco as he was being driven to his office at city hall. Gunmen in a black sport utility vehicle with license plate ABG-8133 cut into the path of the red car and opened fire at Jovencio Senados, 62, who was in the front passenger seat. With multiple gunshots to the head, Senados did not stand a chance. His driver survived unscathed. The gunmen then drove off toward Roxas Boulevard.

Police said bullet casings from long firearms were recovered at the scene. Who owns long firearms in this country? The killers clearly believed they could get away with the murder despite the obvious presence of closed-circuit television cameras at strategic spots throughout Quirino Avenue, a busy thoroughfare even with Metro Manila still under general community quarantine.

Probers said the attack was likely work-related, but as of yesterday, no suspect had been arrested. Previously, gunmen wearing tinted helmets and nondescript jackets while riding in tandem on motorcycles could easily get away from a crime scene. These days, the requirement to wear masks as a precaution against coronavirus infection has made it easier for criminals even in SUVs to conceal their identity.

CCTV footage and witnesses, however, provided the license plate number of the killers’ SUV. This should help probers track down the gunmen. Senados was just the latest member of the prosecution and judicial service to be killed. Presuming that the attack was related to his work, murder is the worst way of undermining the criminal justice system. Every effort must be made to get the killers of Senados, before lowlifes believe they can get away with such attacks and impunity sets in.