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Manila: A 38-year-old plumber has been sentenced by a suburban Malabon City court to life imprisonment for killing a photojournalist-community leader in 2006.
In a six-page verdict on Tuesday, Judge Benjamin Aquino of the Malabon City Regional Trial Court found Roberto Cabal Lopez guilty "beyond reasonable doubt" in the killing of Prudencio "Dick" Melendres.
Aquino also ordered Lopez to indemnify the victim's wife and pay her moral damages, burial expenses and compensate her for the loss of her husband's income.
Melendres, who works for the tabloid Tanod, (Guardian) was shot dead on July 30, 2006 by three armed men near his house in Malabon City's impoverished Gozon Compound in Tonsuya district.
According to the Manila-based Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) Melendres' killing could be connected with the case concerning another photojournalist, Albert Orsolino. Orsolino, worked for another tabloid Saksi Ngayon (Witness Today) and is a cousin of Melendres.
Orsolino, police said, was killed because of the personal grudge of a neighbour. However, relatives said otherwise.
They said that after Orsolino was killed, Melendres replaced him as president of Letre Urban People Homeowners‚ Association.
According to relatives, Melendres had been helping acquire the land on which they had been considered illegal settlers.
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