MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is ready to provide assistance to Philippine National Police (PNP) in connection with the probe on the killing of a former assistant city prosecutor in Cebu.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra made the remarks in relation to the case of former Cebu City Assistant City Prosecutor Salvador Solima, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen who barged into his house in Singson Village in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City on Monday night.
“We at the DOJ (Department of Justice) are saddened by his tragic death, and we are ready to assist the police in solving the case,” Guevarra said in a text message sent to Philippine News Agency on Tuesday.
The Justice Secretary does not believe that Solima’s killing has anything to do with the victim’s previous job as a prosecutor.
“I don’t think the murder had anything to do with his duties when he was still a prosecutor 20 years ago,” he noted.
Solima was dismissed from the service on June 26, 1998 over charges of gross misconduct/grave abuse of authority and gross ignorance of the rules on inquest.
Based on the initial investigation of Cebu City Police Office, Solima was pronounced death at 6:58 p.m. Monday after he succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head by unidentified assailants.
Solima’s wife Verose, who was also shot by the gunmen, is still in critical condition at the Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan with reports from Rachel Banares/OJT/PNA)