by Benjamin Pulta/PNA
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Thursday urged authorities to take action on the latest killing of a lawyer, Rex Jasper Lopoz, who was gunned down last March 13 in front of a shopping mall in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
In a statement, IBP national president Abdiel Dan Elijah S. Fajardo reiterated their concern over the deaths of lawyers in recent months.
“We call on the police and investigative authorities to solve these cases with a real sense of duty and competent dispatch,” Fajardo said.
The group noted that Lopoz’s killing closely follows the assassination of Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro in Cebu City last January 17 and the abduction of lawyer Alwyn Mendoza in Nueva Ecija last February 23, 2019.
The IBP renewed its call for the Supreme Court to initiate an investigation into all the killings of Filipino lawyers by convening a dialogue among the SC, the IBP, state security forces and other relevant organizations, for the parties to engage in open and constructive discussion on ensuring the safety and security of lawyers.
