CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 05 November) – A former judge who was named in President Rodrigo Duterte’s August 2016 narco list was killed by unidentified gunmen in his residence in Surigao del Norte last Friday. His son was injured.
Lt. Col. Christian Rafols II, Caraga regional police spokesperson said former Municipal Trial Court judge Exequil Dagala, 48, was sleeping when three gunmen entered his residence and shot him in Del Carmen town in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte last Friday, All Saints Day.
Dagala was dismissed by the Supreme Court in late 2017 for immorality and gross misconduct and perpetually disqualifed him from re-employment in all public offices.
Rafols said Dagala was killed instantly while his son, Vince Exequil Dagala, suffered a gunshot wound on his left palm.
He said the victim and his son were sleeping together in the room at the second floor when the gunmen barged inside the house at around 11pm.
“The suspects forcibly shot the victim several times using caliber .45 pistols hitting on his head and mouth that resulted to his instantaneous death,” Rafols said in a statement.
Rafols said the unidentified suspects fled towards unknown direction using a white Toyota Grandia with no plates.
Dagala and six other judges were among those on Duterte’s narco August 2016 list.
Then Supreme Court Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno wrote the President that one of the judges on the list was killed in 2008 and Dagala of the Municipal Trial Court, Dapa-Socorro, Surigao, “does not have jurisdiction over drugs cases.”
Sereno said it “would be very helpful if the investigators who included the names of Judges Dagala and (Rene Gonzales) inform the Court how these MTC judges can be considered as influencing the drug trade.” (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)