Bohol farmers seek justice for slain Cebu lawyer

TAGBILARAN CITY - Hugpong sa Mag-uumang Bol-anon (Humabol) demanded justice for slain veteran Cebu-based lawyer Rex Fernandez Jr. who was shot dead in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City on Thursday, August 26 by still unidentified assailants.

Humabol is a federation of poor farmers in Bohol province advocating for agrarian reform and national industrialization.

In a statement, Humabol said Fernandez handled pro bono cases representing political prisoners and human rights victims in Bohol.

"He also served as resource speaker to several paralegal trainings and lectures on human rights organized by HUMABOL and its allied organizations," it said.

Fernandez was a founding member of National Union of Peoples' Laywers (NUPL) in 2007. He was also Karapatan counsel for years.

Fernandez held a “hunger strike” after the management of the condominium he was living in cut his water supply.

According to Police Major Jonathan Dela Cerna, chief of the Guadalupe Police Station, Fernandez was on board his car when he was shot by the gunman who waited for him in a corner at around 4:10 p.m.

A closed-circuit television (CCTV) in the area showed that the lone gunman, who wore a red jacket,  immediately boarded a getaway motorcycle driven by another person after killing Fernandez.

Police said least six empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol were recovered at the crime scene. -- BAP, GMA News