EDITORIAL - Another one

While the case of Cebu lawyer Rex Fernandez has yet to be solved, another lawyer championing human rights was gunned down.

This time it was lawyer Juan Macababbad, who was shot dead in his home in Surallah town in South Cotabato.

According to a police report, two men on a motorcycle arrive near his house before dusk last Wednesday. One of them disembarked and shot him before getting back on the motorcycle and leaving.

Because investigation is still going on, there is no angle being eyed yet behind the killing as of press time. But we cannot help but surmise that Macababbad was killed for his cases and his advocacy.

This again calls to mind other people, not necessarily lawyers, who were involved in human rights work and also killed. Like labor leader Dandy Miguel shot dead in Laguna last March. Or Anakpawis chairman Randall Echanis, who was stabbed dead inside his house in Quezon August last year. Or Zara Alvarez who was shot dead in Negros also August of last year.

Those cases have yet to be solved. And now this.

What gives? Are killers emboldened by the fact that cases involving people of such advocacies or lines of work are usually not solved? Or perhaps because they are acting on orders from powerful people who can protect them?

Some may question our frequent use of the term “human rights” in these cases or in describing the work of these individuals. They may even say it has become a blanket term for a number of beliefs, some even bordering on communist ideologies.

Of course, this is misunderstood. Many people doing what is branded as leftist or communist work are actually just representing people who do not have the voice, education, money, political connections, or the clout to stand up for themselves when their rights are abused.

And it is usually that kind of work that brings them up against the powerful.

Like we said earlier, the investigation is still ongoing and there are still different angles to be looked into in this latest killing. He may have been murdered for reasons totally unrelated to his work or his calling. But if he was killed for those reasons then this will have more chilling effect on others with similar beliefs.