The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Thursday that killings in the country have spread to other sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since last year, when the pandemic started, we noticed that killings still continued and in fact spilled over to the other sectors as well,” CHR spokesperson Attorney Jacqueline de Guia told GMA News Online in a Zoom interview.
“We remember that just this week, the Supreme Court issued their own statement of concern over the plight of lawyers, judges have been killed. That is also what the CHR noticed,” she added.
“Similar to journalists, activists and union leaders which we see also become victims of killings and there were some killings of ordinary citizens, and local mayors. Circumstances of which are very brazen,” De Guia said.
The agency said the CHR and the government struggle to uphold the law amid the killings among other sectors.
“Regardless, when we talk about EJK (extra-judicial killings) before, it is in relation to the drug war campaign,” De Guia said.
“But as we have seen when there is tolerance or killing by the public and if there is no accountability, there is the tendency for people to put the law into their own hands,” she added.
Killings spread on other sectors: CHR
“There is a tendency for the rule of law to be taken for granted and that puts a challenge for the government including the CHR to ensure that the rule of law is upheld at all times,” De Guia said.
The CHR’s statement was issued days after senators from different parties on Wednesday filed a resolution condemning the killings and violence against judges and lawyers in the Philippines.
According to Senate Resolution 691, the senators also urged President Rodrigo Duterte to take measures to ensure the safety and protection of those in the legal profession.
Among the authors of the resolution are Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Sonny Angara, Pia Cayetano, Leila De Lima, Richard Gordon, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Francis Tolentino.
“Our lawyers play a crucial role in the administration of justice in the country, especially in representing the most marginalized members of the community,” the senators said in the resolution.