LRWC has received reports of threats, harassment and intimidation of three Filipino lawyers.
On or about 23 June 2006, Atty. Concepcion Jayme-Brizuela of Kidapawan, North Cotabato, Mindanao received SMS messages saying she will be the next to be killed after a couple was recently murdered in cold blood in the same area. Atty. Jayme-Brizuela is a member of the Executive Committee and Treasurer of the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM).
On 27 June 2006, Atty. Beverly Musni and her daughter of Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao were followed by men on board a motorcycle. Atty. Musni is a labor arbitrator of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). She has also been arbitrarily and unjustly labeled in the Philippine military’s “Order of Battle.” She is also head of the Secretariat of UPLM.
Finally, on 25 June 2006, Judge Romeo T. Capulong and his wife were subjected to a specific harassment and assassination attempt in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Judge Capulong was fortunately able to escape this attempt, but he believes that it is related to his role as counsel for the farm workers, employees and victims of the November 2004 massacre and killings in Hacienda Luisita, Inc., Tarlac.
These incidents follow a pattern identified by Amnesty International in its 2006 report, which highlights a number of arbitrary arrests, unlawful killings, torture and “disappearances”.
LRWC ACTION
Letter by Luningning Alcuitas-Imperial was sent on July 4, 2006
