Basilan Judge Ambushed and Killed on Way to Work in the Philippines; Police File Murder Complaint Against Three Suspects
Judge Joseph Wee Sit, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 2 in Isabela City, Basilan, was shot dead in an ambush in Zamboanga City early on Thursday, November 12, the Philippine News Agency reported. At about 5:25 a.m., while Wee Sit was driving alone along Tumaga-Putik Road in Barangay Tumaga toward the port to catch the first ferry to Isabela City, two men on a motorcycle overtook his vehicle and opened fire. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head and face and was declared dead at a hospital at about 6:30 a.m.
Investigators recovered eight empty .45-caliber cartridge cases at the scene, and his vehicle had five bullet holes on the driver's side. The Zamboanga City police activated a Special Investigation Task Group, and regional police director Brig. Gen. Elmer Ragay ordered a manhunt. Mayor Khymer Olaso offered a two-million-peso reward for information identifying the gunmen.
The Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines condemned the killing, and Chief Justice Rodil V. Zalameda directed assistance for the judge's family. Police said they were examining cases Wee Sit handled for a possible motive, which has not been established. In September he had denied motions to recall arrest warrants against Hadji Muhtamad Mayor Arsina Kahing-Nanoh and her co-accused in murder and frustrated-murder cases; no verified link between that ruling and the killing has been established.
On November 14, regional police filed a murder complaint before the Zamboanga City Prosecutor's Office against three suspects: the identified gunman, the motorcycle driver, and the driver of a second getaway vehicle.
(Source: Philippine News Agency)
Source: Philippine News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾三宝颜市市政厅与黎刹广场，法官 Joseph Wee Sit 在该市遇伏，资料图。照片：Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Zamboanga City Hall and Plaza Rizal in the Philippines, file photo; Judge Joseph Wee Sit was ambushed in the city. Photo by Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
