MANILA, Philippines – Lawyer Bayani Dalangin was shot dead in front of his office in Talavera town in Nueva Ecija on Friday, February 28, making him the 48th member of the legal profession killed in the Duterte administration.

“A good, brilliant and respected Ecijano lawyer was gunned down and murdered on February 28, 2020 at his office in Talavera, Nueva Ecija,” Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Nueva Ecija Chapter president Wilson Chua said in a statement on Saturday, February 29.

Inquirer reported that motorcycle-riding gunmen killed Dalangin in front of his clients, then fled.

“If these kinds of of brazen evil acts are not curtailed and prevented, and oftentimes result in violent killings of a comrade in the legal profession or even ordinary citizens, members of the bar are demoralized, but we will not be dissuaded,” said Chua.

Dalangin is the 48th lawyer killed since July 2016. 

In 2017, Dalangin was admonished by the Supreme Court for having an alleged extra-marital affair with a former staff. He was also fined P5,000 over an altercation with another lawyer while waiting for a hearing at the trial court.

A foreign panel of probers who visited the Philippines in 2019 said they found that there was no effective investigation of the cases of lawyer killings. – Rappler.com