In Palawan, lawyer gunned down outside family home
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—A lawyer was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman in this Palawan capital just as he and his family returned home from a prayer meeting on Wednesday night.
Police said lawyer Joshua Lavega Abrina was unloading their belongings outside their house in Barangay San Jose around 8:15 p.m. when he was attacked.
Abrina, 32, a former legal officer of the Department of Education in Palawan, was hit in the chest and was taken to Ace Hospital, where doctors failed to revive him.
Police Capt. Alan delos Santos, Station 2 commander, said investigators were already reviewing security footage, noting that “our first assessment is that the suspect is already on standby so there is [an element of] premeditation which leads to murder.”
The city police created the Special Investigation Task Group
-Abrina to focus on the case as it condemned what it described as a “senseless act of violence.”
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Palawan Chapter denounced the killing, calling it a “brutal and senseless” attack.
“It is with profound sorrow and utmost indignation that the IBP-Palawan Chapter condemns the brutal and senseless killing of our colleague, Atty. Joshua Lavega Abrina, a dedicated lawyer, servant of justice, and staunch advocate of the rule of law,” the group said.
Calling the crime “an attack … against the very principles of justice, accountability, and truth,” the IBP noted that Abrina’s death was not isolated, citing a pattern of violence against lawyers in the country.
“Over the past years, lawyers across the country have been harassed, attacked, and killed simply for performing their duty … These alarming incidents reflect a growing culture of impunity and lawlessness that threatens the very fabric of our justice system,” it added.
The IBP vowed to “exhaust all legal means to ensure justice for Atty. Abrina is fully and uncompromisingly served. We will not rest. We will not be silent. We will not be cowed. For every lawyer killed is a blow to the pursuit of justice—and we must never let injustice prevail.”
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), where Abrina served as officer in charge of the administrative division of the Port Management Office in Palawan, also condemned the killing “in the strongest possible terms.”
“Violence and intimidation have no place in a civilized society, and such actions will never deter the PPA community from performing its mandate of serving the Filipino people,” it said.
SC response
Acting Chief Justice Marvic Leonen also condemned the killing, saying: “We strongly condemn this senseless act of violence. The killing of a member of the legal profession is a grave matter that strikes at the very core of justice and the rule of law. It must never be taken lightly.”
Leonen said the Supreme Court’s Marshal Service was tasked to coordinate with investigators, while the Court Administrator was directed to instruct judges to hold consultations with IBP chapters and lawyers’ groups to assess risks and recommend measures to improve safety. —WITH A REPORT FROM JANE BAUTISTA
