BY GLENN BEUP and RUBY SILUBRICO
ROXAS City – Did the gunmen who shot to death Iloilo City drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. the same group that killed his lawyer Edeljulio Romero yesterday? Known for handling high-profile drug cases, Romero, 50, was gunned down at an eatery outside the seaport in Barangay Culasi here around 1 p.m.
On Aug. 29, 2016 or over two years ago, Romero’s client Odicta was killed by armed men at the jetty port in Barangay Caticlan, Malay, Aklan.
The lawyer himself was attacked a day after attending Thursday’s court hearing of a client, drug suspect Stephen Teves, at the Roxas City Hall of Justice.
An armed man got down from a grey sport utility vehicle and shot the back of Romero’s head.
The bullet exited just above Romero’s nose, according to Superintendent Dante Tayco, Roxas City police chief.
The assassin left the scene after the shooting.
Romero was brought to the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital on Arnaldo Boulevard where he was declared dead.
“A .9mm pistol was used on the victim, initial investigation showed,” said Tayco.
He requested for copies of the security camera recordings of nearby establishments in the hope of identifying the gunman and companions.
Tayco said there could be two more suspects – men who served as the gunman’s lookout.
From what the Roxas City police so far gathered, Romero took his lunch at the carinderia while wife Iris Tan, 42, was buying roll on, roll off ship tickets for the two of them at a nearby 2GO vessel ticketing outlet.
They were supposed to return to Quezon City where they have been residing for over a year now although both were residents of Iloilo City, said Tayco.
A female witness told the police she saw Romero taking off his bulletproof vest minutes before he was shot, said Tayco.
Romero came to Roxas City on Wednesday, a day before his client Teves’ scheduled court hearing.
Teves was arrested in a police buy-bust operation in 2017.
“We enjoin possible eyewitnesses to share information that may help in the ongoing investigation,” said Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director.
Right after the shooting, the Roxas City police set up checkpoints. None managed to apprehend the gunman.
“We assure the victim’s family that a thorough investigation is underway to arrest those responsible for the incident,” said Bulalacao.
The gunman may have been tailing Romero for quite some time and probably had contacts at the Culasi port, according to Roxas City police chief Tayco./PN
