Group condemns slay of drug suspects’ lawyer

LUCENA CITY — The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) condemned the killing of lawyer Rafael Atotubo, who represented drug suspects, in Bacolod City.

“While attorney Atotubo has represented many illegal drug suspects in court, this cannot in any way justify his killing,” Edre Olalia, NUPL president, said in a statement.

“No lawyer should be attacked for the exercise of his profession, especially since everybody has the constitutional right to counsel and access to courts,” Olalia said.

Atotubo, 62, died of a bullet wound in the head after he was shot in an ambush by still unidentified assailants on board a motorcycle in front of his house in Bacolod City shortly before noon on Friday.

Police have not established any motive yet.

Olalia said the brazenness of the attack “is strikingly similar to the modus operandi in the continuing extrajudicial killings all over the country.”