Negros Occ. lawyer’s murder ‘sends fright to legal profession’

MANILA – “Worrisome” was how Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon described on Thursday the murder of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) founding member Atty. Benjamin Ramos.

Condemning the killing of the human rights lawyer, the Ilonggo senator said the attack sent a “frightening signal to the legal profession” and warned that the continuous killings are “detrimental to rule of law.”

“Attorney Ramos is a great loss to the legal profession and the Filipino people, especially to the oppressed whose rights he had bravely fought for all his life,” Drilon said in a statement.

“This incident is very alarming and deplorable. If these killings do not stop and the perpetrators are not immediately brought to court, it will be detrimental to the rule of law,” he added.

Ramos was shot dead in his hometown of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental by two still unidentified gunmen on Tuesday. He was the 34th lawyer to be killed under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Ramos’ gruesome death and the previous attacks on other lawyers were inevitably sending a frightening signal to the legal profession,” Drilon said. “I am calling on the authorities to do everything to bring the perpetrators to justice the soonest.”

“It is imperative that a thorough investigation is launched … to determine the motive and identify those responsible for the killing,” he added. “We must not let the culture of impunity to continue to prevail over the rule of law and our justice system.”

Opposition senator Francis Pangilinan, in a separate statement, said the murder of Ramos could be related to his work and involvement in the case of the Sagay City farmers killed recently.

“It’s appalling when even those who defend the poor and voiceless become victims themselves of the lawlessness under the Duterte administration,” the Liberal Party leader said.

“We could not help but link his death to his work as human rights lawyer and his involvement in the case of the Sagay massacre,” he added. “We will not allow impunity to reign by letting the perpetrators go unpunished.”/PN

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