DEADLY ATTACK | Groups seek justice for human rights lawyer killed in Cebu ambush

August 27, 2021 , 12:02 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(August 27, 2021) – Another human rights lawyer has died in the country after sustaining gunshot wounds from unknown assailants in Cebu City on Thursday, sparking calls for justice from the victim’s family and various groups.

Rex Fernandez, a founding member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), was dead on the spot after two men riddled his vehicle with bullets around 4:10 p.m. along Salvador Street in Barangay Guadalupe. He was 64 years old.

Investigators found at least six caliber .45 pistol slugs from the crime scene but they have yet to identify the suspects. Witnesses said the two unidentified men fled the scene on a motorcycle.

Fernandez’s driver, Darvie Pondar, was rushed to the Chong Hua Hospital to treat his spinal injuries but he remains in critical condition, according to the victim’s family.

“No words, indeed,” said NUPL president Edre Olalia, describing his colleague as “passionate, intense, and brave.”

Fernandez had been inactive from the NUPL in recent years but he has continued to take on human rights cases, according to Olalia. He was the co-counsel of the eight activists arrested for staging a mobilization against the feared Anti-Terrorism Law last November.

“Before he was silenced, he castigated the present administration which he had hitherto placed his sincere hope on would bring change. He died disillusioned that it was not meant to be. Rest in peace already Rex. You fought a good fight,” added Olalia.

Fernandez is the 64th legal professional who died under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, based on the tally of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). Lawyers’ killings rose sharply by as much as 500%, showing the dangers the legal profession faces under Duterte’s iron-fisted rule.

“The killing of any lawyer is of serious concern to all of us. Violence solves nothing. It is anathema to the rule of law,” said Associate Justice Marvic Leonen in a statement.

Fernandez is the third lawyer killed in Cebu since last November, following the cases of Baby Maria Concepcion Landero-Ole who was shot dead while driving in Danao City and Joey Luis Wee who was killed while on his way to his office in Cebu City.

IBP Cebu vowed to coordinate with authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime, denouncing the ruthless attack for its “immeasurable horror.”

“An attack on our brother-lawyer for case-related motives is an attack on the justice system and the rule of law we promised to protect,” said IBP Cebu in a statement. “Otherwise, if no definitive resolution is made, the threats and deadly assault on lawyers will persist with impunity.”

Before his death, Fernandez had staged a hunger strike to protest issues with the management of his condominium in Mandaue City. He questioned the transparency of association fees for homeowners, with the management cutting off his water supply after he stopped paying.

Investigators have yet to identify if the issue was related to the gruesome killing.

(PM)

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