IBP-Davao rebuked for naming Du30 ‘pillar of law’
Hailing former President Rodrigo Duterte as a “pillar of law” is a mockery to thousands of individuals who were killed in the drug war and lost a chance to defend their names in court, according to an organization of human rights lawyers.
Jojo Lacanilao, convener of the Concerned Lawyers for Liberties as well as the Duterte Panagutin Network, said the recognition given by the Davao chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to Duterte as a “Golden Pillar of Law” is an “embarrassment to the legal profession” as it honors a lawyer who has a track record of ignoring due process.
“IBP Davao is an embarrassment to the legal profession by making this award and can make no justification for this unforced error. The only way they can rectify this wrong is to withdraw this award forthwith,” the lawyer said when sought for comment.
A photo of the award with the name of Duterte on it had been making rounds on social media with Allan Panolong, IBP chair and national president, as its signatory.
ICC detention now justified
In the award, IBP thanked Duterte for its “50 years of distinguished and dedicated service in the legal profession, upholding the ideals of justice, integrity and the rule of law, whether in private practice or public service.”
But Lacanilao opposed this, saying that Duterte, instead, is a “lawyer who had called for the killing of thousands without due process.”
He also stressed that such a homage given to the former president, who is detained for murder charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC), only proves that he continues to hold “unbounded influence in important sectors of our society.”
“If a regional group of lawyers is still hoodwinked by the guile of the former President, it demonstrates that any idea of sending him home for temporary release from the ICC detention is a dangerous one,” Lacanilao stressed.
Human rights expert Carlos Conde slammed the IBP award on Duterte, saying: “Fanatics from Davao City are indeed bottomless.”
