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Human rights lawyer Angelo Karlo Guillen: Committed, unshaken
Atty. Angelo Karlo Guillen
MANILA – Because of the volume of work that he had to finish, human rights lawyer Angelo Karlo Guillen goes home late at night.
That fateful night of March 3, the life of Guillen was shaken as two men wearing ski masks attacked him, stabbing him several times with a screwdriver. He was on his way home after a very long day at work.
Guillen survived the attack and has since returned to work.
As a member of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, he has committed himself to defending the defenseless. The cases he is handling includes that of the 16 Tumanduk farmers who were arrested in Capiz and Iloilo provinces on December 30, 2020. He is also the legal counsel of one of the 37 petitioners against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in the Supreme Court.
NUPL ON LAWYERS
Last April 23, NUPL submitted to Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo its “running documentation” on attacks against lawyers, prosecutors and judges.
It said that during the 11-year period of its documentation, the most number of incidents involving attacks against lawyers happened in 2019.
“The highest number of incidents was documented in 2019, with the least 39 prima facie profession or work-related attacks. A steady increase in the number of such attacks has been observed since 2016,” the NUPL said.
In pointed out that in 2016, there were eight recorded attacks; in 2017, 18; in 2018, 33; in 2019, 39; in 2020, 31; and during the first four months of 2021, 18 attacks.
The NUPL conducted on Monday afternoon, April 26, a webinar on its “running documentation.”
Published April 23, 2021, 12:30 PM
The Manila regional trial court (RTC) has denied the plea to nullify the search warrant it issued against one of the seven activists who were arrested during the celebration of the International Human Rights Day last Dec. 10.
Denied was the motion filed by Joel Demate whose request to suppress the evidence presented against him was also rejected by the trial court.
In a statement, the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), which is Demate’s counsel, said it will appeal the RTC’s ruling.
“The NUPL will move for the reconsideration of the court order and pursue available legal remedies to vindicate Demate and secure his liberty,” NUPL said.
Photo courtesy of Altermidya Network)
“Not being required, and in fact prohibited by law, the organizers should not be forced, and are within their right, to refuse to sign any disclosure forms. Lest some of the red-faced government officials forget, the 1987 Constitution recognizes the right of all citizens to participate in governmental and societal concerns, and mandates that these rights shall not be abridged.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
MANILA – “Leave them alone for you already did.”
This is the statement of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) after the red-tagging of the community pantries and its organizers which prompted the Maginhawa Community Pantry to temporarily halt its operation today, April 20.
In the Philippines, lawyers are called to protect community pantries
Apr 20, 2021 5:41 PM PHT
In less than a week, the community pantries that have been widely lauded as a testament to the bayanihan spirit have become the subject of a tense surveillance issue, prompting calls for lawyers to be on-site to protect organizers. We call on lawyers and law students to take turns in helping protect community pantries from police harassment. We urge our colleagues to contribute legal services according to their capacity, to those according to their needs, the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) said on Tuesday, April 20.
The NUPL made the call after Maginhawa Community Pantry organizer Ana Patricia was forces to halt their operations after the Facebook pages of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) shared posts linking pantries to underground communists.