NBI ordered to probe Negros lawyer's murder

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to "get the killers" of a lawyer who was shot dead by motorcycle-riding assailants in Negros Oriental earlier this week.

Guevarra on Friday issued a department order directing the NBI to investigate and conduct a case build-up on the killing of lawyer Anthony Trinidad in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and file charges against those responsible if evidence warrants.

Trinidad, 53, was on board his van on Tuesday afternoon when "riding-in-tandem" suspects approached his vehicle and shot him several times. His wife, Novie Marie, was wounded and rushed to a hospital in Dumaguete City.

The Guihulngan City police chief reportedly said Trinidad was in a hit list by the Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Komunista (KAGUBAK).

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered authorities to carry out a "thorough probe" of the killing.

"Lawyers are officers of the court and they help in the dispensation of justice, and we cannot further stress the atrociousness of the act should it be discovered that the felony is work-related," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Thursday. —KBK, GMA News