Lawyers' groups rally outside SC to condemn killings in legal community

Members of advocacy groups National Union of Peoples' Lawyers and Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties on Tuesday condemned the spate of killings in the legal community.

Holding placards and a long list of work-related killings of lawyers since 2016, they protested outside the Supreme Court in Manila City.

The groups submitted a letter to the SC, expressing alarm over the spate of killings of the members of the legal profession, according to Isa Avendaño's report on Super Radyo dzBB.

TINGNAN: Grupo ng mga abogado, nagsimula nang magtipon-tipon sa labas ng Korte Suprema upang igiit ang proteksyon sa mga abogado at hukom sa bansa. Nananawagan din sila na ihinto na ang pagpatay sa mga miyembro ng legal profession. @dzbb

?: @nuplphilippines pic.twitter.com/DOZHALdt2y

— Isa Avendaño-Umali (@Isa_Umali) December 22, 2020

They called for justice and asked that those behind the killings be held accountable.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines would also hold a protest action in front of the SC this Tuesday as they reiterate their call to stop the killings and to end impunity.

"The unabated killing of lawyers, too often with impunity, is a sad reflection  of the spiralling violence and disregard of, if not contempt for the rule of law in our land," the IBP said in a statement.

The group emphasized the need for concerted efforts of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government in ensuring the safety of lawyers in the country and justice for those who perished in previous killings.

"We appeal to those who have been entrusted with great authority, power and public funds to do MORE, BETTER, FASTER lest shocking situations where law enforcers/peace keepers readily and publicly shoot helpless unarmed neighbors-mother and son become the norm," it added.

Some senators in the upper chamber of Congress recently filed at least three resolutions seeking a legislative probe on this year's series of killings among lawyers, doctors, activists, and other members of the community, to break the culture of impunity in the country. —KG, GMA News