Nachura links gov't lawyer's slay to pending cases

Solicitor General Antonio Eduardo Nachura on Wednesday linked the murder of Assistant Solicitor General Nestor Balacillo and his son Benedict in Parañaque last week to cases the government lawyer was handling, including the expropriation of a mothballed airport terminal and the Milk Code. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also released a P1-million reward for the killers' arrest. "Through the P1 million reward, the President gave a clear message that she will not condone such a dastardly act and that the government will not be cowed into submission by criminal acts like the one committed against Balacillo," Nachura said in a press conference at the Office of the Solicitor General building in Makati. Ballacillo and his son were killed last December 6 while walking towards a public transport terminal near their house in Barangay San Antonio, Paranaque City. The Southern Police District earlier offered a P200,000 reward for information that would lead to the killers’ arrest. Nachura noted that Ballacillo was handling the international arbitration cases involving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal III and its expropriation. "Nestor is a good person. If he received threats, he probably laughed it off that is why no information that reached us. So, this is a big shock for us. He is handling land cases, sensitive cases like the breastfeeding (Milk Code), he has cases in expropriation. The case is tremendous," Nachura said. Superintendent Ronald Estilles, chief of the Parañaque police, said they are not discounting the possibility that Ballacillo’s killing could be related to the murder of Pasay City Judge Henrick Gingoyon, who was handling the expropriation proceedings of the NAIA-3 when he was killed. "They (the suspects) may have used .45-caliber pistols. Their precise act indicates that they are professional killers. This is not a simple case of a cell phone theft. They are gun for hire, hired by somebody and the murder of Ballacillo’s son may could have been incidental only," Estilles added. Estilles released sketches of the two gunmen, whom he described as between 5 feet to 5 feet, 4 inches in height and in their early 20s. In linking the Milk Code case to the killing of Ballacillo, Nachura said the slain prosecutor was an advocate of "breastfeeding." "Nestor came out very strongly in these cases if this is really work-related. Ballacillo is an advocate of breastfeeding," he said. The Solicitor General added that Ballacillo was instrumental in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten Marcos wealth. Ballacillo also successfully litigated the case against the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) where the Supreme Court (SC) ordered Meralco to refund its overcharge to the electric consumers. The Ballacio family, in a statement released to media during Nachura’s press conference, called on the government to find and prosecute the killers. "He laid down his life, through all his long years of public service, with unselfishness. We demand that government pour all the resources in its power to investigate his death and prosecute his killers," the Ballacio family said. "Our hearts break for the injustice we have suffered as a family. Half of us is gone. We appeal to the public to help us in this hour of our need for justice," the Ballacillo family said. -GMANews.TV