MANILA, Philippines — Those from the law enforcement and justice sectors should unite to hold perpetrators of violence accountable sooner than later.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) made this call Friday amid recent reports of bombings such as the Jolo twin blast incident, killings such as the deaths of activists, and other violent acts committed in the country.
“As the sentinel of the Rule of Law, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines condemns suicide bombings that kill and injure innocent persons, ambushes of military and police units, assassinations, tortures/extrajudicial killings of activists or suspects, and all forms of violence inflicted by anyone without due process and beyond legal norms,” Atty. Domingo Egon Cayosa, National President of the IBP, said in a statement.
Further, Cayosa said the government and society as a whole should address “the abuse, impunity, frustrations, desperation, aspirations, or hopelessness underlying the continuing violence in our country.”
“As we deal with the root causes of crime and violence, IBP calls for unity and cooperation among all those who work in the law enforcement and justice sectors to make the perpetrators accountable sooner than later,” Cayosa said.
“Delayed, selective, unequal, or twisted justice erodes the rule of law which should be a deterrent to the violence that diminishes all of us,” he added.
The IBP released the statement merely days after two explosions rocked a barangay in Jolo, Sulu, killing not only a number of civilians but also members of the military and the police.
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) commander Major General Corleto Vinluan Jr. earlier said that the first explosion occurred at Paradise Food Shop beside the Syntax computer shop on Serrantes St., Barangay Walled City.
The second blast, Vinluan added, happened at Goteckleng Building, which was only a hundred meters away from the site of the first blast.
Meanwhile, the IBP also welcomed the Supreme Court’s promulgation of the amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure and the Revised Rules on Evidence.
The IBP said the amendments will facilitate and expedite the resolution of cases.
“IBP appreciates and supports the reform agenda of the Supreme Court and is committed to work and cooperate with the judiciary, quasi-judicial and administrative bodies, and all institutions in the justice sector,” Cayosa said in a separate statement.