Palace condemns attack vs NUPL officer; orders police, NBI to conduct probe

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang ordered the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the stabbing of a National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) officer in Iloilo City.

According to the NUPL, their Assistant Vice President For Visayas Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen was stabbed in the head and at the back on Wednesday night. 

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque condemned the incident as he likened it to an attack on the country’s rule of law.

“We condemn any attack that seeks to violate the right to life and we consider na itong pag atake sa isang abogado ay mas karumal dumal dahil inaatake din nila yung ating tinatatawag na rule of law,” Roque said Thursday in an online briefing.

(We condemn any attack that seeks to violate the right to life and we consider that this attack on the attorney is even worse because it was also an attack on our rule of law.)

“Kaya po inaatasan natin ang lahat ng ating kapulisan, ang ating NBI  na imbestigahan ang kasong ito at parusahan yung mga tao na nasa likod ng attempt na patayin itong ating kapwa abogado,” he added.

(That’s why we’re instructing the police and our NBI to investigate this case and punish the people behind this attempt to kill our fellow lawyer.)

Apart from being an NUPL officer, Guillen also serves as legal counsel in one of the petitions against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and the case of Tumandok indigenous peoples.

JE