SunStar
+ January 22, 2021 I USED to own and possess licensed firearms: a .9mm and .22 pistol. I used to carry these guns every time I left my residence, especially if I went out of town, because I was able to secure permits to carry firearms outside of the residence. But two years ago, I decided to “surrender” these firearms to the Police Regional Office 7’s firearms and explosives unit for safekeeping when I failed to renew their licenses. Until now, the guns are there.
Due to the murders of lawyers here and in other places, some members of the legal profession have been alarmed. A group of lawyers from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu chapter have come up with a proposal in what they termed “Lawyer Protection Program for Cebu Lawyers.”
News
Supreme Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez on Wed., Jan. 20, 2021 said lawyer groups met with government agencies in the justice sector recently to discuss security issues amid killings of lawyers. Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB/File photo Lawyer groups, gov t agencies discuss security amid murders in legal profession By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News
Published January 20, 2021 3:56pm Lawyer groups met with government agencies in the justice sector this month to discuss security issues amid the killings of members of the legal profession in the Philippines. Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez on Wednesday said they are preparing a report to be submitted to Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, whom he said instructed him to meet with stakeholders to find ways to address attacks against lawyers.
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.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) A former regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency was arrested for allegedly supervising the murder of a lawyer in Cebu City last November 2020.
National Bureau of Investigation-7 Regional Director Renan Oliva said on Monday s briefing that they have arrested retired Army Col. Edwin Layese on January 12 over the death of lawyer Joey Luis Wee who was gunned down near his office,
Oliva said Layese was not the mastermind, but did the planning and execution of the killing.
“We have documentary, electronic and testimonial evidence to show that Edwin Layese was involved not just a participant but a supervisor in the killing of Wee,” Oliva explained.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra hopes to hold a dialogue with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) within the month to discuss concerns over the safety of lawyers.