Bacolod bishop urges speedy resolution of businessman’s slay

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Bishop Patricio Buzon of the Diocese of Bacolod has called for the speedy resolution of what he called the “deplorable” slay of a businessman here.

”The killing of Mr Alex Yao on the night of February 19 inside the compound of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine (Redemptorist Church) is a deplorable act. It is an act of violence that has no place in our Christian communities, more so, in our society that upholds the principles of law and order,” Buzon said in a statement released Wednesday night, February 20.

He strongly condemned the killing as “an act that is indicative of a complete disregard for the Christian and societal ideal we stand for, that any form of violence has no place in and outside our churches.”  

“Ours is a society of laws and as reasonable individuals, we do not place the law in our hands,” Buzon added.

The bishop said that violence is “never our way of seeking redress and this incident of killing imperils that order.” 

On February 19, Yao and his wife Ma Teresa were about to leave the church after attending a prayer meeting when they were shot at by still unidentified riding-in-tandem assailants. 

The businessman died of multiple gunshot wounds while his wife sustained injuries.

Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas, officer-in-charge of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said he ordered his men to conduct a deeper probe into the case.  

A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) will be created to hasten the resolution of the case.  

The police have yet to establish a motive of the killing. – Rappler.com