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The recent brazen daylight assassination of Atty. Maria Saniata Liwliwa Alzate, a dedicated public interest lawyer who served as President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Abra for two terms, has sent shockwaves throughout our legal community and rekindled harrowing memories of our own tragic loss within the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM).
Atty. Alzate’s brutal murder bears a haunting resemblance to the unresolved killing of our Vice Chair, Juan Macababbad, who was gunned down in front of his home in Surallah, South Cotabato, just two years ago. Both Alzate and Macababbad were selfless human rights defenders who courageously treaded the perilous path of public interest lawyering, an endeavor fraught with undeniable and immediate danger.
While we acknowledge and appreciate the Supreme Court’s initiatives aimed at streamlining the process for issuing protective writs, the persisting attacks on lawyers underscore an urgent imperative for more robust and coordinated action across all branches of government. It is their solemn duty to provide the protection of life that is so urgently required, more than seeking protection from scrutiny the allocation and spending of public funds, a demand that some elected officials are all too eager to shield with unwarranted confidentiality.
Despite the risk of sounding repetitive, we must emphasize our message with even greater urgency:
STOP THE ATTACKS! STOP THE KILLINGS OF LAWYERS!
We demand justice for Atty. Alzate, justice for all victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), and an end to the prevailing state of impunity that allows such atrocities to persist.
Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao
September 15, 2023
