Rights groups file disbarment case against Rody Duterte

The Supreme Court was asked by human rights groups and families of victims of extrajudicial killings to strip former President Rodrigo Duterte of his license to practice law, accusing him of violating the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) and engaging in conduct unbecoming of a lawyer.

KARAPATAN filed the disbarment complaint as part of an effort to hold Duterte accountable for alleged human rights abuses during his presidency, group secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

The complainants include Atty. Vicente Jaime “VJ” M. Topacio, whose parents, NDFP consultants Agaton Topacio and Eugenia Magpantay, were killed in November 2020; Llore Pasco, who lost her sons Crisanto and Juan Carlos in a 2017 police drug war operation; Liezel Asuncion, widow of Bayan-Cavite coordinator Manny Asuncion, one of nine activists killed in the 2021 “Bloody Sunday” raids; Rosenda Lemita, whose daughter and son-in-law, Ana Mariz and Ariel Evangelista, were killed during the same raids; and Lean Porquia, son of slain Bayan Muna-Panay coordinator Jory Porquia.

Other signatories include human rights defenders Satur Ocampo, Fr. Manuel Gatchalian, Sr. Eleanor Llanes, and cultural workers Bonifacio Ilagan, JL Burgos, and Kiri Dalena.

“With Duterte’s invocation of his role as lawyer and prosecutor as some kind of authority in his recent testimony at the hearings at the House of Representatives and the Senate, we believe it is time for victims of human rights violations to speak up. It is time for us to appeal to the Supreme Court to reinforce how the law should work in the Philippines, how the law should shield victims of human rights violations as they seek justice and should ensure dignified and proper conduct in the practice of law,” Atty. Vicente Jaime Topacio, son of National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultants Agaton Topacio and Eugenia Magpantay, who were killed in their home in November 2020, said.

Pasco also expressed her plea for justice: “We want justice. I was there when Duterte testified at the Quadcom hearings and he was obviously trying to intimidate us. We ask the esteemed justices of the Supreme Court to protect us from people like him who use their status as a lawyer to try to make wrong and reprehensible things seem right.”

“Duterte continues to speak out in favor of human rights violations. He should be disbarred for his unacceptable conduct and pernicious abuse of his position that devalues human life and undermines respect for civil liberties,” Asuncion said.