Pubdate: Fri, 26 Aug 2016
Source: Philippine Star (Philippines)
Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2016
Contact:  http://www.philstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

Witnesses aren't the only ones who are permanently silenced. Lawyers 
whether representing crime victims or suspects  are also being 
targeted by those who want to thwart the administration of justice.

Last Tuesday in Tacloban City, men on a motorcycle pulled up to a car 
driven by Rogelio Bato Jr. and opened fire with a rifle and a 
.45-caliber handgun. Bato and his companion, a 15-year-old girl, did 
not stand a chance. The gunmen escaped.

Bato was the lawyer of Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera town in 
Leyte. The mayor had been identified by President Duterte as one of 
the local government officials allegedly involved in drug 
trafficking. Espinosa pointed to his son Kerwin as the drug dealer. 
Kerwin is at large and believed to be abroad, but six of their 
family's bodyguards were also shot dead during a police raid on one 
of their homes after Espinosa presented himself to the Philippine 
National Police.

Killing bodyguards who might have tried to stop the raid may be 
explained by the police, but why would anyone target a lawyer? And 
why include his teenage companion? Even persons convicted of the most 
heinous offenses are entitled to a legal counsel. Even if Bato has 
been eliminated, the Espinosas must be represented by a lawyer in 
case they face criminal indictment. If no private lawyer accepts the 
case, the state is required to provide one.

No formal charges have been filed so far against either of the 
Espinosas. But indictment, judgment and capital punishment appear to 
have been rendered on their security escorts and their lawyer, with a 
luckless girl as collateral damage.

Fearing for his life, the mayor, who has been stripped of supervision 
over his town's police force, has reportedly sought protection from 
the state. Lawyers who dare to represent drug suspects should also be 
assured of similar protection. Members of the legal profession should 
have no fear in carrying out any aspect of their work.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom