Assault on legal profession
Press statement Statement on the assault on Atty. Merbehn Lumbo December 8, 2016 The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Panay expresses its grave concern on the highhandedness displayed by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) this morning for roughing up, arresting, handcuffing and detaining a colleague in the legal profession, Atty. Marbehn Lumbo, who was only exercising his professional duty of protecting a client. Atty. Lumbo has rightly responded to his client, Melvin Odicta Jr., who sought his legal aid when PDEA agents raided his residence in Molo, Iloilo City. He had not done anything to stop the law enforcers from conducting the raid: all he asked was to read the copy of the search warrant, if any. The raiders answered that the warrant was only for illegal drugs allegedly kept at the residence of his client . However, on seeing cash and jewelries being collected by the raiders instead of illegal drugs, Atty. Lumbo vehemently objected and