Public urged not to share videos, photos of judge’s shooting

In a statement on Thursday, the University of the Philippines College of Law-based Portia Sorority implored everyone “to help in reporting these online videos and photos so that these may be taken down.” (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – Friends of the late Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Ma. Teresa Abadilla have urged the public to refrain from resharing online the gruesome videos and photos of the shooting incident.

In a statement on Thursday, the University of the Philippines College of Law-based Portia Sorority implored everyone “to help in reporting these online videos and photos so that these may be taken down.”

“As we mourn for Sis Tessa (Abadilla), and as her family deals with the tragic news, we humbly ask that we respect her memory and protect the family’s privacy,” it said.

Abadilla, 44, had been a staff of fellow Portian, retired Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, and her successor, retired chief justice Lucas Bersamin before she became a Manila judge.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) pledged to continue to help lawyers handle stress and improve their security.

“It is ironic that while the IBP and the Philippine Medical Association and the Philippine Psychiatric Association were conducting a webinar on how to manage stress and mental health in the legal profession in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we learn of the tragic shootings and deaths,” it said in a statement.

Initial police reports said Abadilla had confronted her branch Clerk of Court, lawyer Amador Rebato Jr.

regarding some office matters when the latter shot the magistrate before shooting himself inside her chambers on Wednesday.