Killing of lawyer ‘state-sponsored’

The government was behind the killing of human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos, an official of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Lawyer Ian Sapayan, NUPL vice chairperson for the Visayas, believes the murder was state-sponsored.

“Walay laing pasanginlan ani. Abi sa Duterte administration nga mahadlok ang mga tawo, mahadlok mga abogado (We know who’s to blame. The Duterte administration thinks the people, the lawyers will be scared),” he said in a press conference. “Walay laing kadudahan. Kinsa may lain?”

Lawyer Mundlyn Misal-Martin, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu Chapter president, described the murder of Ramos as an “act against the legal profession as a whole.”

“We cry for justice for the death of another brother in the legal profession. Killing another lawyer is an inhumane act, unworthy in a civilized nation where democracy should rule,” she said. “We cannot fathom the reason why, a lawyer whose noble cause in society has led to his unjustifiable demise.”

Ramos, NUPL-Negros Occidental secretary general, was smoking by a store in Barangay 5, near the public plaza of Kabankalan City when he was shot by motorcycle-riding gunmen around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday. Nov. 6.

Karapatan Central Visayas chairperson Dr. Phoebe Sanchez and Anakbayan Cebu chairperson Joisa Cesista joined Sapayan in condemning Ramos’s murder.

The IBP Cebu Chapter, said Martin, calls for an immediate and unbiased inquiry.

Sapayan urged authorities to conduct a thorough investigation on Ramos’s murder. “We believe there are still investigators who can be trusted,” he said.

Ramos was the 34th lawyer killed under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte in the past two years. /