Prelate cries justice for slain ex-Lamitan mayor

July 28, 2022 - 4:32 PM
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Bishop Leo Dalmao of the Prelature of Isabela de Basilan. (Claret Seminary Philippines via CBCP News)

Isabela de Basilan prelate Leo Dalmao joined the calls for justice for a former mayor and two others who were killed in a gun attack over the weekend.

Former mayor Rosita Furigay of Lamitan City on the southern Basilan island was one of the three persons killed in a shooting incident last Sunday at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

Furigay, according to the bishop, was an active partner of the prelature in several peace building efforts and interreligious undertakings.

“We are pained by the loss of a fellow peace advocate,” Dalmao said in a statement issued July 26. “We call for the swift and just resolution of this case.”

The bishop also assured his prayers for the victims and the bereaved families.

“I call for sobriety among the people of Lamitan and of the rest of Basilan. Let not this incident put to waste the peace we have worked so long and hard for,” he added.

Apart from Furigay, the shooting reportedly perpetrated by Chao-Tiao Yumol, a medical doctor, also killed her aide and a guard of the university and wounded her daughter.

Reports said the attacker opened fire as law students and their families gathered for a graduation ceremony.

Yumol was later nabbed while fleeing the crime scene.

RELATED: ‘Such a loss’: How slain ex-Lamitan Mayor Rose Furigay is remembered