DOJ on death of Pampanga lawyer: Cops to initially probe case

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday said they would initially let the Philippine National Police (PNP) take the lead in investigating the death of a lawyer from Pampanga.

Atty. Anselmo “Sato” Carlos and his driver Marcial Mendoza were killed in an ambush Tuesday morning in his hometown.

READ: Pampanga lawyer, driver killed in ambush

Carlos was the 46th lawyer killed since 2016 and the second lawyer killed in 2020.

“We will initially let the PNP take the lead in investigating this latest incident,” Guevarra told reporters.

But he said if there were indications that the case would fall under Administrative Order 35, “the DOJ (Department of Justice) will create a special investigating team.”

AO 35 created the Inter-agency Committee on Extra-legal Killings, Enforced Disappearance, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons, which is chaired by the Justice secretary.

The AO which was issued in 2012 was created to address allegations that state and non-state actors have been “silencing, through violence and intimidation, legitimate dissent and opposition raised by members of the civil society, cause-oriented groups, political movements, people’s and nor-government organizations, and by ordinary citizens.”