BACOLOD City – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Negros Occidental Chapter condemned the killing of Atty. Rafael Atutubo by masked assailants on Thursday.
“Any attack against a lawyer weakens the practice of law and demoralizes lawyers from fulfilling their sworn duty to defend their clients,” the Chapter said in a statement.
Known to handle illegal drug-related cases, Atutubo, 62, was shot on the head by motorcycle-riding gunmen outside his house on Galo Street, Barangay 20.
The “vicious act against a colleague in our profession”, according to IBP-Negros Occidental, threatened the independence of lawyers and judges, thereby hindering their pursuit toward an effective administration of justice.
“Ultimately an attack against a lawyer is a threat against civil liberties and should not be tolerated,” the Chapter stressed.
It urge the authorities to conduct a full-scale investigation and bring Atutubo’s killers to justice.
“We likewise urge colleagues in our profession to remain steadfast, unwavering and united in our commitment toward justice and truth,” stressed the Chapter.
The IBP is a mandatory organization of Philippine lawyers composed of over 55,000 members. In February it created a task force that would investigate the killings of lawyers.
“The apparent continued attacks on the members of the Bar, none of which had been successfully resolved or prosecuted, create an impression of impunity, wherein State forces appear indifferent and helpless, or, worse, in one case, even involved in such violent assaults,” read part of the IBP Board of Governors’ resolution creating the task force.
This impression of impunity, in turn, creates a “chilling effect on members of the Bar, who, in the discharge of the solemn duties as officers of the court and guardians of the Rule of Law, are placed under a serious, grave and imminent threat,” the IBP added.
The IBP force will investigate, document, prosecute or assist in the prosecution of cases involving the murder or violent assault against the members of the Bar and/or their families.
The IBP was prompted to create a task force following the foiled ambush against Atty. Argel Cabatbat on Feb. 13 and the death of Atty. Jonah John Ungab, Vice Mayor of Ronda town in Cebu and counsel of self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa./PN
