The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) Cebu Chapter condemns the senseless killing of Atty. Jonah John Ungab by unidentified men after he attended a court hearing around noon today.
Both our collective moral sense and the international convention on human rights recognize the right to life as an inherent right of every human being that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived thereof.
We urge the authorities to immediately conduct a full and impartial investigation into Atty. Ungab’s killing and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice. Failure to do so will only embolden murderers under a pervasive culture of impunity that knows no power of the rule of law.
This attack against a lawyer, an officer of the court, undermines the proper functioning of our entire justice system already laid bare to the fleeting events and political mood of the moment.
We likewise urge our brothers and sisters in the legal profession to be vigilant in our quest for justice and our struggle to put an end to rampant killings and human rights violations which continue to plague our country.