Lawyer, client shot in Las Piñas courtroom - reports

(Updated 12:09 p.m.) A lawyer and her client were injured Thursday after an unidentified assailant opened fire at them inside a courtroom at the Las Piñas Hall of Justice, radio reports said. The victims were identified as private attorney Rebecca Basa and Lolita Tubale, who were attacked at the Branch 199 of the Las Piñas regional trial court (RTC), dzBB radio said. Senior Superintendent Amando Clifton Empiso, chief of the city police, was quoted as saying that a court hearing on Ubale's annulment case was about to begin when the incident occurred. He said his men have launched a manhunt for the assailant. It was unclear how the attacker managed to bring a firearm into the courtroom. The lawyer and her female client were both rushed to the Perpetual Help Medical Center also in Las Piñas. Basa sustained at least one bullet wound to the head, the report quoted hospital staff as saying. Last March, a 24-hour hostage drama in the Taguig City Hall of Justice ended in the death of gunman Almario Bautista. Tensions peaked when Almario, a stuntman, engaged raiding policemen in a gun battle. A loud explosion, possibly from grenade that Almario carried, was heard at the end of the violent exchange. His lifeless body was found sprawled on the floor of the building's stairs. Bautista's lover, Delia dela Cruz, was tagged as an accomplice. She had insisted, however, that she was also held hostage. - GMANews.TV