CEBU CITY, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) has reported the arrest of one of the suspects in the killing of Lawyer Joey Louise Wee on November 23, 2020.
Crime investigators scour the crime scene for clues following the ambush-killing of prominent lawyer Joey Louise Wee outside his office in Banilad, Cebu City on November 23, 2020. | file photo
Barely two weeks after the gruesome murder of the prominent lawyer on broad daylight outside his office in Barangay Kasambagan, Cebu City, the NBI national office said it has tracked down one of the four or five perpetrators of the shooting incident in Laguna in the National Capital Region (NCR).
This was confirmed by NBI-7 Director, Lawyer Renan Oliva to CDN Digital on Wednesday, December 9, 2020. The director said the NBI national office is already processing the filing of charges against the suspect.
Footage of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) near the crime scene also provided crucial aid in identifying the suspects.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has revealed in a press conference that the suspect was nabbed in Laguna and is now under the custody of the NBI.
“The suspect in the murder of Atty Wee in Cebu, a certain Peralta, has been tracked down and arrested in Laguna and taken into custody by the NBI,” said DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
The suspect was identified as Fausto Edgar Benigno Peralta and was arrested at 11 pm on Tuesday, December 8, says NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin.
No additional information has been revealed as of the time of writing.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu City Chapter welcomed this development over Wee’s death.
“I am pleased to hear of this development. We now need to accord the suspect with due process, and we need to see to it that justice be served. In the process, the IBP is ready to extend all its efforts and contribute these to see that justice be swift and not delayed,” said Lawyer Regal Oliva, the president of the IBP Cebu City Chapter.
The IBP is hoping that justice will be achieved for the cold-blooded killing of the lawyer and bring to justice the perpetrators of violence against legal professionals. /rcg