PNP, IBP vow to resolve lawyers’ killings

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) and Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) vowed yesterday to collaborate to prosecute those behind the recent killing of lawyers.

“Lawyer-killings shall be investigated promptly and thoroughly with the suspects subsequently identified, prosecuted and penalized,” PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and IBP president Domingo Egon Cayosa said in a joint statement.

Eleazar said they would expedite their investigation and give preference to cases of violence against lawyers, prosecutors and magistrates.

Eleazar and Cayosa met at Camp Crame on Tuesday after the Free Legal Assistance Group reported that 61 lawyers and judges have been killed or disappeared since Duterte assumed office.
The lawyers’s group noted that the figure is higher compared to the 28 killed under former presidents in the past four decades.

“The PNP and IBP will collaborate .... within the parameters of the Lawyer Security and Justice MOA (memorandum of agreement) that the two institutions signed in March 2020,” the joint statement read.

Under the accord, the PNP will help members of the legal profession enhance their skills and knowledge in protecting themselves through the proper use of firearms.

The IBP, for its part, put up a P250-million fund to assist witnesses in cases committed against lawyers.

Eleazar gave assurance that police officers found to be involved in the killings shall be held accountable.

Special panel

Meanwhile, in a two-page letter, around 900 lawyers asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to convene a special committee to protect members of the legal community amid reports of killings and requests for lists of those representing suspected communist personalities.

University of the Philippines College of Law dean Edgardo Carlo Vistan II wrote the letter, which was endorsed by 157 faculty members and 736 other lawyers.

”We believe that this court is vested with sufficient power under the Constitution to protect its officers, including lawyers, prosecutors and judges as well as its staff and personnel, from threats, intimidation and even killings,” Vistan’s letter read.

Vistan said the letter “conveys our outrage and concern” after Lt. Fernando Calabria Jr., former intelligence chief of the Calbayog City police in Samar, sought from a local court a list of lawyers of suspected communist personalities.

While Calabria was relieved over his action, there were reports of other judges receiving similar requests, Vistan said.

House probe sought

In a related development, members of the Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution 1657 seeking a congressional inquiry into alleged profiling of lawyers defending red-tagged personalities.

“Such a list... presents a clear and present danger to the legal profession... even if the PNP top brass are denying such a policy when the letter was exposed,” they said in the resolution.

The lawmakers said the legal community is ”threatened” given the current dismal human rights situation in the country and recent attacks on lawyers. – Evelyn Macairan, Edu Punay