STATEMENT OF NUPL-PANAY ON THE MURDER OF ATTY. ANTHONY TRINIDAD The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL)-Panay condemns even as it mourns the murder of our brother in the legal profession Atty. Anthony Trinidad. He was driving home from a court hearing July 23 afternoon in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental when attacked gunmen riding in tandem on a motorcycle who sidled up with his car and opened fire. Atty. Trinidad was pronounced dead on arrival in a hospital; his wife Novie Marie was injured. Guihulngan PNP chief Lt. Col. Bonifacio Tecson told reporters that Atty. Trinidad sought protection from local PNP after receiving death threats from an anti-Communist group which tagged the slain lawyer “supporter” of the New People’s Army (NPA) and was in its hit list. The murder of Atty. Trinidad casts another dark blot on the regime of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte for its lackadaisical work and negligence in protecting its own people, if not downright complicity and participation in these extra-judicial killings (EJKs) attributed to suspected State-forces, and plain killings done by non-State thugs. Since July 16, 2016 when Pres. Duterte assumed office, 41 lawyers have been killed, of them seven were public prosecutors and five judges. None of the perpetrators were brought to justice. Atty. Trinidad is the latest entry in the growing statistics of unsolved killings. Where can the victims and their families turn to for protection and justice when their very own government secutiry forces fail to perform their sworn duties? Where will the people turn to when public officers tasked to give them protection are the very suspects in these attacks? We call on the Duterte government to observe the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 35 (HRC35), June 23, 2017 that mandates member states to protect human rights workers and lawyers. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council Europe adopted HRC35 in its European Convention to Protect Lawyers, January 2018. ILOILO CITY, Philiipines, July 25, 2019 Reference: ATTY. TEOPISTO S. MELLIZA NUPL-Panay Media Officer
Chat Conversation End


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boy Scout Roy B. Babas, in memoriam

Image
By Pet Melliza/The Beekeeper Iloilo Gov.  Arthur D. Defensor (center in light shirt) and Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero (beside the governor) unveil the monument of Scout Roy.  By now, he could have been 53 and, if he married at 20, he would have grandchildren. However, Roy B. Babas, gave up his life at a tender age because of a freak accident 41 years ago, January 24, 1971. He was 12 years old and a grade five pupil. Babas, orphaned of both parents and cared for by his paternal  lolo   eked out a living on weekends and holidays as cargador , carrying luggage of passengers of vessels docking on the wharf of Estancia, Iloilo. Bionat: When I broached the idea to the governor of erecting a monument in honor of Scout Roy, he nodded at once. Scout Roy was his buddy in the Boy Scout. He promised silently beside the latter's bier that he will work it out to have a monument built for him. Defensor: Bravery and helpfullness are among the virtues of Boy Scout
Read more

Kalampay getting scarce and costly

Image
Today a kilo of kalampay fetches P80 to P140, at par with other fishes. This freshwater crab was almost free before. Photo above shows a freshly broiled crab. Kalampay" for sale was almost unheard of 40 years ago. The freshwater crab teemed in Iloilo rivers and people caught it for free. Today, it fetches the minimum P80 per kilo. Surprisingly, Iloilo River, dubbed the country's biggest septic tank after Pasig River, is still home to crabs and shrimps that Ilonggos consume. Mention the word today to the young generation and they would stare at you bewildered. "Kalampay? Ano ra man? (Kalampay? What's that.)" They more they would stare at you blankly if you asked them what "katang" and "baringay" are. The usage of term is getting scarcer like the fate of kalampay. "Katang" is a juvenile kalampay, the size a half thumb while "baringay" are botton size ones that migrate inland from the sea where they are spawned. 
Read more

Broad daylight robbery by Treñas and caboodle

    Mayor Jerry Treñas and his caboodle in the mass disinformation industry are yelping accolades and jumping in glee at nothing but how good, bright and promising the fates of the Iloilo Terminal Market and Iloilo Central Market would be under his watch. Better still, miswatch.      "Public-Private Partnership" kuno; "renovation" kuno, "progress" pa gid, lapdogs in the  mainstream mass disinformation industry oogle.      What they're deliberately hiding is the obvious, that the deal is nothing but a "lease contract", a heavily lopsided one, that hands over for a song two prime real estate properties of Iloilo City taxpayers to SM Holdings, owner of the most number and biggest of malls in the Philippines.      It's neither PPP nor renovation but a broad daylight robbery where Treñas surrenders to SM the ownership of the "Central" and "Super" to SM for 50 years, renewable thereafter at SM's caprice.      By merely c
Read more