he Pamantasan ng Maynila (PLM), together with the College of Law and the Graduate School of Law, jointly denounce attacks and killings of lawyers, judges, and legal practitioners.
In a statement Tuesday night, March 30, PLM said the attacks against lawyers and threats to judges "impair their ability to provide effective legal representation and dispensation of justice" and make legal practitioners "wary of working on sensitive case that consequently gravely undermine the proper functioning of the rule of law and the adequate protection of rights."
"The most precious of all human rights, the right to life, has been denied our brothers and sisters in the legal profession. Most attacks and killing of lawyers and threats to the members of the bench were committed as a result of discharging their professional duties or are believed to be work-related," the statement read.
The university also lauded the statement of the Supreme Court issued last March 23, condemning the killings of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors.
"PLM stands with the Supreme Court in denouncing 'every instance where a lawyer is threatened or killed, and where a judge is threatened and unfairly labeled.' Whether the incidents of violence against lawyers and judges were work-related or not, the full force of the law in locating the culprits and bringing them to justice must be applied," the statement read
PLM vowed to advocate the role of education in the promotion of rule of law and the culture of lawfulness.
University President Emmanuel Leyco, Board of Regents Chairman Dr. Francisco Roman, Regent and College of Law Dean Atty. George Erwin Garcia, and Graduate School of Law Dean and retired Justice Hector Hofileña signed the statement dated March 26.
The Free Legal Assistance Group reported that 61 lawyers have been killed since 2016 after President Duterte took office.