SC urged to ensure speedy, fair probe on lawyers’ killings during Duterte admin

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has urged the Supreme Court to ensure a speedy and fair investigation into all the killings of lawyers since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.

On the heels of the killing of AKO Bicol party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe, a lawyer, the IBP said 78 of its members have already signed an online petition calling on the High Court to "take immediate action" to protect Philippine lawyers.

In a Monday statement, the largest group of lawyers in the country urged the SC to "take appropriate steps to ensure a thorough, prompt, impartial, and independent investigation into all the killings of lawyers from 30 June 2016."

It also hopes to be part of an "open and constructive" dialogue among the SC, state security forces, other government agencies, civil society groups and other lawyer organizations on ensuring lawyers' safety and security.

Batocabe, who was supposed to run for Daraga, Albay mayor in next year's polls, and his bodyguard were shot dead last Saturday in what state investigators suspect was a politically motivated attack.

"We join other sectors in condemning his daylight assassination, even as we remain shocked by the audacity of the concerned action that can only find success in an environment that fosters impunity," said IBP president Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo.

Another lawyer, Erfe del Castillo from Negros Occidental, survived an ambush in Talisay the day before Batocabe was killed, Fajardo said in the statement.

Last month, Benjamin Ramos, who was legally assisting the victims of the massacre of nine sugarcane farmers in Sagay City, was shot dead in Kabankalan.

According to the National Union of People's Lawyers, Ramos was the 34th lawyer to be killed during the Duterte administration. — RSJ, GMA News