MANILA – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Monday demanded a swift investigation into the assassination of lawyer Anthony Trinidad last week in Negros Oriental.
The IBP said authorities must identify the suspects of Trinidad. The lawyer was described as “good and selfless” and chose public interest cases in his hometown over a lucrative career in Manila.
“For if lawyers who are the sentinels of the rule of law and who serve the poor are themselves assassinated with impunity, no one would be safe and no one would expect justice in our country,” the IBP said.
“The killing of Atty. Trinidad is added to the growing list of murders and attempts on the life of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors in the Philippines,” it added.
Trinidad was shot dead while his wife was wounded in an attack by motorcycle-riding assailants in Guihulngan City on July 23. The couple was on their way home from a hearing in La Libertad town.
“It will add more benefits to Trinidad and all others who may be attacked possibly for their public interest lawyering,” the IBP said.
Since Aug. 2016, the IBP data showed 38 lawyers, judges, and prosecutors were killed all over the country.
Trinidad’s ambush was among the latest in the spate of killings in Negros Oriental aside from the separate murders on a school principal, an education department employee, and a barangay chairman./PN
