The lawyer of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, who is also the vice mayor of Ronda in Cebu, was shot and killed on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018.
Vice Mayor and lawyer Jonah John Ungab was shot by unidentified gunmen after attending the hearing of his client.
According to Senior Police Officer 1 Winston Ybañez of the Cebu City Police Homicide Section, Ungab was driving his car and was about to make a right turn when the two gunmen approached his car at the driver’s side and shot him at close distance along S. Osmeña Street in Cebu City.
Ybañez said Ungab had a lady passenger inside the vehicle who was left unharmed.
Ungab had just come from a court promulgation relating to the case against his client.
Before the shooting, he told a television reporter that he had secured a certification from the Firearms Explosives Security Service Agency and Guards Supervisory Section in Central Visayas that Espinosa had a license for his firearms.
“The police did not inform the court [that Espinosa] has a license[d] firearm. We were able to secure a certification from FESSAGS during that time,” Ungab had said.
Cebu City Regional Trial Court branch 23 had acquitted Espinosa of Illegal Possession of Firearms, but convicted him of the gun ban violation under the Omnibus Election Code.
The case stems from a buy-bust operation that took place in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City in 2010.
According to the police, Espinosa yielded packs of illegal drugs and a .45-caliber pistol he allegedly owned.
Espinosa was charged with violating Section 5 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and Illegal Possession of Firearms. In 2012, Espinosa was acquitted of the drug case.
In the latest decision, RTC Judge Generosa Labra said authorities failed to prove that Espinosa’s firearms were illegally owned.