The members of the National Prosecution Service have called for the adoption of stringent measures to protect government prosecutors, as they condemned the killing of their former colleague in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental last Tuesday.
Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan, chief of the NPS, stressed the need for arming prosecutors to be able to defend themselves from attacks.
“It is high time that a nationwide call to arm the NPS be made. That self-defense trainings and mechanisms be set in place to safeguard the very lives of these selfless public servants,” he said in a statement.
Catalan cited the murder of former prosecutor Geronimo Marabe Jr. by four unidentified assailants, which he said was a cause for alarm and should be properly dealt with.
“The recurring and frequency of the killings of prosecutors have raised serious concerns about their safety considering that the motives of the perpetrators are cryptic just like the manner of their attack, treacherous and bestial,” the prosecutor general said.
The NPS listed Marabe, who reportedly served as a prosecutor in drug cases against the Parojinog family, as the 14th prosecutor killed in the country over the last 26 years.
“The figures do not lie. These blatant attacks have disturbingly escalated through the years. With each statistic more deliberate and brazen than the last; showing how these shameless perpetrators have become fearless of anything or anyone,” he noted.
“Each death of a fallen prosecutor is a tragedy, that leaves a penetrating and pricking mark. A constant reminder that another brethren fell prey to these cowardly acts by assassins hiding in their dark masks of anonymity. These deaths are occupational hazards, the risk of violence that goes with the position,” he said.
However, Catalan assured that prosecutors would not be intimated by the killings of their colleagues and they would continue to perform their duties under the law.
“Make no mistake, the NPS shall stand its ground. These atrocities will never disable nor destroy this stable institution. We stand united and strong in these challenging times,” he vowed.
Police said Marabe was traveling in Barangay 50th District when the assailants strafed his sports utility vehicle.
He was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.
Investigators have yet to determine the motive for the killing. Rey Requejo
But reports said that Marabe served as a public prosecutor for several cases involving the Parojinogs.
Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog was killed during the operation while his son and daughter, Reynaldo Parojinog, Jr. and Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez were arrested.
Just last May 11, Quezon City deputy city prosecutor Rogelio Velasco was also killed by unidentified men in a daylight attack in Holy Spirit Drive in Barangay Holy Spirit.