Guevarra orders NBI to probe killing of former Ozamiz prosecutor

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the killing of retired Ozamiz prosecutor Geronimo Marabe Jr.

The Justice chief confirmed the development on Thursday, two days after the former prosecutor was gunned down by unidentified men while driving in Barangay 50th District, Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.

He was brought to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Marabe was the 14th prosecutor killed in the last 26 years, according to the National Prosecution Service (NPS), which condemned his killing as it issued a call for prosecutors to be armed and given self-defense training.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao earlier said Marabe was a public prosecutor in several cases including those involving the Parojinog family, whose patriarch, the late Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, was alleged to have been involved in the illegal drug trade.

Parojinog and 14 others were killed in a police raid in July last year. His son and daughter were arrested.

Other prosecutors killed since 1992, mostly in the line of duty are Macario Balansag, Antonino Ruiz, Julio Talomo, Godofredo Paceno, Jr., Mscadatar Marsangca, Akilali Balt, Alexander Sandoval, Rolando Acido, Johanne Noel Mingoa, Diosdado Azarcon, Maria "Kit" Ronatay, Reymund Luna, and Rogelio Velasco, according to the NPS. — MDM, GMA News