Guevarra: NBI on the hunt for killers of lawyers in Palawan, Cebu

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are on the hunt for the killers of two lawyers in Palawan and Cebu City, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday.

Guevarra said the NBI is "working hard" on the investigation of the deaths of lawyers Eric Jay Magcamit and Joey Luis Wee, who were both shot dead within the span of a week.

Magcamit was killed along a highway in Palawan while he was on his way to a hearing last November 17. Wee was shot outside his office building in Cebu City last November 23.

Guevarra said more field operatives have been deployed in Palawan and Cebu to intensify the search for the suspects.

"The government is very much concerned about the increasing number of crimes committed against lawyers, prosecutors, and judges, and while these are generally considered to be part of the hazards of the profession, the government is committed to bring the perpetrators of these crimes before the bar of justice," he said in a message to reporters.

More than 50 lawyers, judges, and prosecutors have been killed in what reportedly appear to be work-related cases since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.

Some lawyers have also expressed fears for their safety after they were "red-tagged," or accused of being communist rebels or fronts, when they took on the cases of activists.

"There have been just way too many deaths among our own ranks and the biggest irony is that we cannot even get justice ourselves," human rights lawyer Edre Olalia said last week.

He said the buck stops with the government, especially one which he said has enabled a climate of violence in the country and emboldened attacks on human rights defenders. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News