By Charmaine A. Tadalan
Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo flagged the detention of three lawyers for monitoring police in a Makati bar drug raid as an “alarming erosion of Constitutional protections and the rule of law.”
“If even lawyers, fully educated on their Constitutional rights and trained to assert them, can be treated with such official disdain, then we can only imagine how much worse less informed, less empowered Filipinos will fare when subjected to abusive behavior by agents of government,” Ms. Robredo said in a statement, Monday.
Lawyers Lenie Rocel E. Rocha, Jan Vincent S. Soliven and Romulo Bernard B. Alarcon were arrested on Thursday for “obstruction of justice” for monitoring the police while searching the Time Bar for illegal drugs.
The Vice President also reminded the public of they can invoke their legal and Constitutional rights under any circumstances, contrary to the actions of the Philippine National Police.
Further, Ms. Robredo called on the Filipino lawyers to condemn the arrest of Ms. Rocha, Mr. Soliven and and Mr. Alarcon as well as the citizens to contribute in upholding the Bill of Rights and the Rule of Law against the threat of tyranny.
“During one dark period of our history, the rule of law was set aside for the rule of the gun, and citizen’s rights were forced to give way to the unscrupulous use of power That period was the Martial Law regime, and we must never again allow its like to arise,” Ms. Robredo said.
“The line must be drawn here. As free Filipinos, we cannot allow this challenge to our hard-won Constitutional rights to pass,” she added.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Saturday, likewise, raised alarm on the detention of the three lawyers.
“It shows an utter disrespect not only of the law profession but also of constitutionally enshrined rights. It emboldens other law enforcement agencies and puts at risk ordinary Filipino citizens,” the CHR said in a statement.
The CHR also noted they will pursue investigation of the incident.

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