Philippines a dangerous country
for lawyers
Law group strongly condemns
killing of its two lawyer-members
The
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) strongly condemns in the strongest
possible terms the horrible act of brutal killings of innocent civilians
including its two lawyer-members, Attys. Concepcion Brizuela and Cynthia
Oquendo, and scores of women and journalists in Maguindanao yesterday.
Penal
books are not enough to depict the horrifying mass slaughter of innocent
civilians, much less the state of mental perversity of their executioners in
the commission of such a gruesome act.
Lawyers
are essential agents of the administration of justice, and journalists are an
institution in a civilized society. If lawyers and journalists are brutally murdered
while in the performance of their duties, and in broad daylight at that, democracy
is dead, plain and simple.
Malacaņang
must see to it that it knows how to accord justice to the hapless victims,
especially in this case where military reports disclosed that the mastermind is
its closest political ally in Mindanao, the Ampatuans. All government resources
must be brought to bear on the Ampatuans. Otherwise, Malacaņang itself would
tolerate lawlessness and violence. The private army of the Ampatuans must be instantly
disarmed and placed under immediate custody and investigation, and all their
firearm licenses immediately revoked.
Malacaņang’s
tolerance of warlords greatly contributes to the persistence of the culture of
impunity in our society. Since 2001 and prior to the Maguindanao massacre, 22
lawyers and 15 judges in the country have already been murdered and not a soul
was put in prison by the authorities, and this has earned the present
administration the dubious distinction of having the most number of lawyers and
judges that were killed in an administration.
These
extra-judicial killings of lawyers and journalists must be put to an end. We
demand in the strongest possible manner that justice be accorded to the
innocent victims, particularly to our compaņeros,
Attys. Brizuela and Oquendo. We demand justice, no more, no less.
Contact
Person:
Atty.
Julius Garcia Matibag
0927.9293089
