Photo: Cebuano human rights lawyer Rex Fernandez was ambushed Thursday afternoon in Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City. (Benjie Talisic)
A Cebuano human rights lawyer was ambushed in broad daylight at Sitio Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, Thursday, Aug. 26.
The initial investigation identified the victim as Rex Fernandez.
In a CCTV clip from local authorities, the victim’s Toyota Camry was seen crossing an intersection when an unidentified gunman, wearing a red hoodie and short pants, emerged, and ran toward the passenger side of the vehicle and fired shots.
The gunman immediately ran towards a waiting motorcycle and sped off. Fernandez’s driver was wounded in the ambush while his secretary, who was seated at the back, escaped unscathed.
Six slugs of a caliber .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
Lawyer Michelle Mendez-Palmares, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter in a statement sent to PressOne.ph condemned the recent killing of a fellow lawyer.
“The ambush and the taking of the life of Atty. Rex Fernandez is met with the strongest and most vehement condemnation by the IBP,” Palmares said.
She calls on the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to identify the perpetrators, pursue them, and hold them accountable.
Fernandez, a known human rights lawyer, recently held a hunger strike outside his condominium in Mandaue City because of a disagreement with the building management of his condominium cut-off his water supply. – Ryan Sorote