Overlooked plight: Filipino lawyers at the frontlines

COVID-19 is life-threatening. However, it is not only this disease that lawyers are terrified of. Every day, lawyers go to courts unarmed, to defend the rights of their clients. Unfortunately, this means that these lawyers are left defenseless, most likely because there is no one to safeguard them. The commitment to protect a client’s rights sometimes comes with the greatest expense of all — one’s life. Lawyers shouldn’t have to pay this price in the name of justice. Which now begs the question: Is inflicting violence on lawyers an accepted practice by the Filipino people?

One example of a victim of violence against lawyers is Rep. Argel Joseph Cabatbat. He had been receiving death threats because of the cases he was handling, and on Feb. 13, 2018 he was ambushed. Cabatbat, unlike many other lawyers, survived the attack. Thankfully, he was armed. Yet, after having defended himself, charges were filed against him because they were “procedural.” Fortunately, his assailants were caught but the same cannot be said of the assailants of many other lawyers who were attacked as well. In an interview, Congressman Cabatbat said his assailants were just unlucky. No one can say whether Congressman Cabatbat’s perpetrators were just unlucky but one thing’s for sure, his vigilance saved him.