January 19, 2021 ASSESSING the threat. Relocating the threatened lawyer or judge to a safe-house. Close-in security. Training the lawyer on detecting the threat and dodging danger and harm. And less stringent legal requirements on gun-toting for the lawyer who wants to carry a firearm.
Those measures highlight the Lawyer Protection Program for Cebu Lawyers proposed and formalized Monday, January 18, by 11 members of the Cebu province chapter of IBP or Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Ground zero in killings
The lawyers noted that Cebu province is ground zero of the rash of killings, noting that 14 of our brethren have been killed since 2004. In 2020 alone, they said, two lawyers were killed. One media count placed the death toll, the group said, at 55 since 2016 across the country, the latest being the January 14 murder in Malaybalay Ciy, Bukidnon.