SUPREME COURT Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta condemned the killing of retired Court of Appeals (CA) Normandie Pizarro on Tuesday and urged law enforcers to immediately bring his killers to justice.
This developed as the lawyers, through the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), have sought concerted actions from various government agencies to stop the spate of killings involving lawyers.
The IBP, through its national president Domingo Egon Cayosa, made the call in a letter addressed to President Duterte, CJ Peralta, Vice President Leni Robredo, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, members of the Senate and congressmen-lawyers president of the League of Governors and president of the League of City Mayors.
The group pointed out that a total of 54 lawyers have been killed under the Duterte administration from July 1, 2016.
“The continuing, increasing and more brazen killings on Filipino lawyers and judges have been going for many years now but we noticed a sharp increase since President Rodrigo Duterte came to office in 2016 and has made the legal profession one of the most dangerous careers in the country,” the IBP letter, sent to CJ Peralta, stated.
The IBP was joined by the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) in calling the government for a concrete action to prevent further killings of lawyers.
In particular, the IBP and NUPL are asking the Court to take appropriate steps to ensure a thorough, prompt, impartial, and independent investigation into all the killings of lawyers.
It also urged the SC to convene a dialogue between the SC, IBP, state security forces, particularly the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, other relevant government agencies, civil-society organizations, and other lawyer organizations, where all parties could engage in open and constructive discussion on ensuring the safety and security of lawyers.
It also asked the Court to demand accountability and justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings and violence against lawyers and judges.
In a separate letter to the President, the IBP sought the government’s clear action and guidance with regard to the 54 lawyers killed under his administration.
“We appeal to our brothers-lawyers in all branches of government who occupy positions of great authority and power to take concerted action to decisively address attacks on lawyers,” the letter read.
“We see this not only on behalf of the slain lawyers, their families and on the legal profession, but more importantly, for our country that has long suffered from creeping criminality and delayed or denied justice,” it added.
The IBP said the help of the heads of the other branches of government and other stakeholders is crucial in “ensuring justice for the victims, proactively preventing more violence, and restoring our people’s faith and trust in the rule of law and governance.”
The IBP also appealed to public prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges to hasten the resolution of cases without partiality.
“Aside from addressing its root causes, certainty and timeliness of accountability and punishment is a proven antidote to criminality and impunity,” Cayosa pointed out.
In response, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would invite the IBP leadership in the coming days to discuss their concerns and coordinate the justice department’s action to address the increasing number of judges, lawyers and prosecutors being killed.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has confirmed that the body recovered in Capas, Tarlac, on October 30, 2020 was that of Justice Pizarro.
NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin said the body was identified by the NBI forensic based on the DNA test result that yielded a 99.9 percent match.
Pizarro was reported missing after he was last seen at a casino in Clark, Pampanga, last October 23.
His car was later discovered somewhere in San Simon, Pampanga. Before he disappeared, he last spoke with one of his sons on October 23 at around 11:30 a.m to 12 noon.
Pizarro retired from the CA in February 2018, a year ahead of his mandatory retirement, two months after he was found guilty by the SC of conduct unbecoming of a member of the judiciary over instances of gambling in a casino and fined him P100,000.
Among the controversial cases he resolved was the acquittal of former Palawan governor Joel Reyes in the Gerry Ortega murder case which was later reversed by a new set of CA justices tasked to review the case.
He also penned the decision that denied victims of human-rights violation during martial law from claiming the $2 billion in damages that was earlier awarded to them by a Hawaii court.
Pizarro also wrote the decision absolving pork barrel fund scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles of the serious illegal detention charges in 2017 filed by whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
Guevarra said the NBI is still investigating the motive for the killing but assured that the case “will be solved very soon.”