61 lawyers killed nationwide since 2016

MANILA, Philippines — For 44 years, from former presidents Ferdinand Marcos to Noynoy Aquino, only 28 lawyers or judges were killed or disappeared compared to the five years of President Duterte that already has 61 reported dead or missing, the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) said yesterday.

FLAG data showed that during the era of former president Marcos (1972-1986) there were seven cases; Corazon Aquino (1986-1992), nine cases; Fidel Ramos (1992-1998), no reported case; Joseph Estrada (1998-2001), two cases; Gloria Arroyo (2001-20210), nine cases; and Noynoy Aquino (2010-2016) only one lawyer was reported killed or missing.

Not connected

At the Palace briefing yesterday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the number of legal professionals killed was not connected with the person sitting as president.

“From the beginning, these lawyers are aware that their profession is fraught with danger. I am not in a position to say that their deaths are connected to whoever is president,” said Guevarra, adding that President Duterte himself is a lawyer and would not have a policy that endangers “his fellow members in the legal profession.”

Rights advocates have expressed alarm and urged the international community to step up their response to the unrelenting violence in the Philippines.

“It is bad enough that ordinary Filipinos are targeted for elimination in Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ and his war against dissent – it is even more egregious when those who are only doing their job, who are only performing their professional duties, are themselves caught in the crosshairs,” said Carlos Conde, senior Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch.

DILG denies hitlist

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer in charge Bernardo Florece Jr. denied Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite’s allegations that the DILG was preparing a ‘hitlist’ of suspected members of left-leaning groups within the department.

Florece called it a “figment” of Gaite’s imagination but admitted that the agency was trying to find out whether any of its employees are affiliated with groups pushing for armed struggle.

“It is but the legal and moral obligation of this department to investigate if there are employees within our ranks seeking shelter in the very system they wish to destroy,” Florece said in a statement. – Rhodina Villanueva, Neil Jayson Servallos

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