Justice for judges: Rappler flags impunity in lawyer killings

NOT EVEN those who administer justice are spared from the country’s culture of violence and impunity. Since Duterte became president in 2016, 54 lawyers, prosecutors and judges have been murdered. As the number of killings continues to grow, justice remains elusive for the victims. Of the 54 killings documented by the DOJ, only 5 cases have reached the courts.

Media, in general, has reported these killings as crime stories, reporting each episode as isolated incidents rather than as part of the impunity that has made a mockery of the justice system.

CMFR cheers Rappler for calling attention to the reality of the systemic killings that have also targeted lawyers, and for flagging the failure of the judiciary to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Rappler’s in-depth report published on December 1 documented the alarming rate of summary killings during this administration. Reporter Lian Buan pointed out that the number of killings in the first four years of Duterte’s term already surpassed the total number of killings from 1999 to 2015, with 31 victims in a period of sixteen years.

Further investigation

Rappler pointed out that apart from criminal investigation, there has been no acknowledgement that there may be a pattern in the violence against officials of the court and other members of the judicial community.

The sources cited in the article stressed the need for a probe into the phenomenon.

Citing UP constitutional law professor John Molo, Rappler noted that on top of the individual investigations, the situation calls for analysis of the pattern and the rate of killings of lawyers. The report also cited an earlier probe conducted by an international delegation of lawyers in 2018 concluding that there was a lack of genuine investigation into the killings. The group also found that the police were not conducting initial investigations, and DOJ prosecutors were left to wait for police reports that never came.

The report noted that the police were implicated to some extent in some of the cases. Rappler recalled examples which included:

• June 2018 – The suspect in Ombudsman prosecutor Madonna Joy Ednaco Tanyag’s murder was killed while in the custody of police.
  
• May 2019 – DOJ cleared three Quezon City policemen accused of the killing of Deputy City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco.
  
• November 2020 – A policeman was placed under restrictive custody for the killing of Palawan lawyer Eric Jay Magcamit.

Call to action

The report cited the national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Domingo Cayosa, who called for urgent action on the long-pending cases of lawyers killed. Cayosa told Rappler that the unresolved lawyer killings caused “fear and frustration” among their ranks. “For if those who administer justice are themselves killed with impunity, how can the ordinary citizen believe in due process or feel safe and secure?,” he asked. Cayosa also highlighted the shared responsibility of all sectors to protect lawyers because of their role in administering justice and their key positions in government.

According to Rappler, local human rights groups have flagged the rising number of lawyer killings, reporting this to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as a sign of the decline of the rule of law in the country.

Endemic violence and the culture of impunity were problems even before Duterte became president. But the records, including those of the PNP, show a remarkably higher incidence of homicides or killings especially in connection with the government’s “war on drugs.”

The administration cannot deny that the focus of killings on certain sectors has reached crisis proportions.

This report spotlights the victims’ belonging to the legal or judicial community which should be a matter of public concern. CMFR has called attention to the vulnerability of media workers and journalists. Apparently, however, other groups such as human rights defenders and activists are also being targeted for elimination. It is important to know what is happening and why. To report the killings as isolated fails to provide citizens the larger picture. Journalists can check the paper trail so as to alert  the people on the human rights crisis that unbeknownst to them affects everyone.