MANILA — A judge in Philippine capital was shot Wednesday in her office at Manila’s city hall, the authorities said, in a burst of violence that was notable even for a country where shootings are prevalent.
In a statement, the mayor’s office identified the judge who was shot on Wednesday afternoon in her fifth-floor office as Maria Theresa Abadilla, 44, of the city’s Regional Trial Court. Her condition was not immediately known.
A clerk at the court, Amador Rebato, 42, was in Judge Abadilla’s office when witnesses heard a gunshot ring out, the statement said. He is now a suspect in the case, the statement added.
The Philippines has a reputation for violence — one that worsened when President Rodrigo Duterte implemented a bloody and chaotic campaign against drugs after taking office in 2016.
Thousands of people have been slain at the hands of the police alone during the campaign, and fear and mistrust have gripped many neighborhoods of Manila and other cities. Yet Mr. Duterte remains broadly popular.
In March, he locked down the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, Luzon, restricting travel to and from the region, which includes Manila. And a few weeks later, he ordered the police and the military to shoot anyone who protested the lockdown.
“My orders to the police and the military, including to the village chiefs, is that if a commotion breaks out and they put up a fight that puts your life in danger, shoot them dead,” Mr. Duterte said at the time.
Jason Gutierrez reported from Manila, and Mike Ives from Hong Kong.
