Gov’t urged to solve slay of judges, lawyers

NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A lawyers’ group has called on the government to resolve with dispatch the most recent murders of judges and legal practitioners, saying that killings done with impunity would have “a chilling effect” on the members of the bar and the bench.

According to the National Union of People’s Lawyers, in a span of two weeks, from Feb. 19 to March 4, three members of the legal profession were killed—lawyer Noel Archival in Cebu City, Judge Reynerio Estacio in Zamboanga City and retired prosecutor Issan Sawadjaan in Indanan, Sulu.

“All three cold-blooded murders were brazen and perpetrated with the use of guns in broad daylight and most likely carried out in connection with the exercise of their profession. The killings and the manner in which they were executed not only sends a chilling effect to the members of the bar and of the bench, it also yet again reveals the inability of the government to suppress lawlessness and to protect judges and lawyers,” said NUPL secretary general Edre Olalia in a statement.

Impunity

The NUPL said the killings were “a raging manifestation of impunity,” and called on the government to resolve to hold accountable those responsible for them.

“Towards this end and in order to send a clear and determined message to the perpetrators and their masterminds, all pending cases of killings of lawyers and judges must be thoroughly investigated and tenaciously prosecuted with dispatch and those accountable be held to account,” Olalia said.

Ambushed

Archival, together with his staff, was reported to have been killed in an ambush last Feb. 19 while returning to Cebu City from Dumaguete City where he had attended a robbery case hearing. Archival and his companions suffered multiple gunshot wounds and the car carrying them had 31 bullet holes.

Archival’s family and colleagues believed that he was killed on account of his law practice.

Estacio was attacked by motorcycle-riding gunmen last Feb. 28 while he was in his car and about to leave for work. He sustained four gunshot wounds and died in hospital. His car bore seven bullet holes.

Three days ago, Sawadjaan, a former Zamboanga city prosecutor, and his brother were gunned down by unidentified assailants while attending the interment of their late sister in a cemetery in Indanan.