'Tumandok land defenders' lawyer stabbed in Ilolilo', 4 March 2021

A rights lawyer handling a case in the arrest of indigenous Tumandok land defenders and assisting in anti-terrorism law petitions was stabbed in Iloilo on Wednesday night. National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers condemned the attack against their Assistant Vice President for Visayas, Angelo Karlo Guillen. “Reports stated that two unidentified men stabbed Guillen in the head and the shoulder,” NUPL Vice President for Visayas Rene Estopacio said in a statement. Guillen serves as legal counsel for various public interest and human rights cases, such as in the petition lodged by 44 progressive groups against the much feared Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 before the Supreme Court... Guillen is handling the case of 18 land defenders who were arrested on Panay island in December 2020. Nine Tumadok community leaders were also killed in police and military operations in Capiz and Iloilo. Guillen was also arrested after responding to those who were detained of 42 activists protesting the killing of Bayan Muna Iloilo coordinator Jory Porquia... This incident is just the latest in the continued attacks and killings against members of the legal profession since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration...