Manlaban is broad, non-partisan alliance of lawyers and law students that is focused on stopping extrajudical killings and making sure that those responsible for EJKs are held responsible. I am one of the convenors of the group, which includes statesmen like Senator Rene Saguisag and former UP Law Dean and prominent constitutionalist Dean Pacifico Agabin. Aside from prominent lawyers, student representatives from the Association of Law Students in the Philippines, Paralegal Volunteers Organization–UP Diliman, NUPL-UP Diliman, and the UP Diliman College of Law Student Government were also at the launch. Below are excerpts from the MANLABAN SA EJK Unity Statement:“We lawyers, including law professors and judges, and law students, have banded to form an organization demanding a stop to extrajudicial killings and the escalating human rights violations. President Duterte’s public order for the police to shoot human rights activists if they are “obstructing justice” not only endangers human rights defenders but is an outright attack on human rights and freedoms.

Source: The Standard November 03, 2017 17:47 UTC