Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) — The Philippine National Police has filed murder charges against nine suspects, including a police officer, for last week’s killing of Palawan lawyer Eric Jay Magcamit.
The PNP on Thursday said among those arrested was Senior Master Sgt. Ariel Pareja, who has been moonlighting as a bodyguard for another suspect, Marcelino Quioyo. Quioyo is also tagged in a separate court case over a land dispute, where Magcamit was representing the other party, police added.
Also facing charges over the lawyer’s death are Jazer del Rosario and six John Does.
Brig. Gen. Pascual Muñoz, director of the PNP regional office in MIMAROPA, said administrative charges are likewise being prepared against Pareja, who is now under restrictive custody.
Magcamit was shot dead in broad daylight while on his way to a hearing in the municipality of Quezon, Palawan last November 17.
A police report said he sustained two gunshot wounds in his right cheek and one in his leg, and was killed instantly. Prior to his death, Magcamit had reportedly told his wife that a vehicle had followed him on several occasions.
In a statement, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines welcomed the filing of criminal charges against the suspects, but stressed other lawyer slays in the country remain unsolved.
“We share the fear and frustrations of many about the brazen violence, continuing criminality and appalling impunity in our country,” the IBP wrote. “Justice is distant and delayed for too many victims.”
To date, more than 50 lawyers and other members of the judiciary in the Philippines have been killed under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. More recently, Atty. Joey Luis Wee was gunned down near his office in Cebu City — the second lawyer to be ambushed in Cebu in less than two months.
