THE National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFSW) and the Trinidad family were asking for justice for the untimely death of lawyer Anthony Trinidad, 53.
Trinidad was shot dead while driving his car toward home in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental from La Libertad town in Negros Oriental, where he had attended a court hearing, around 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 23.
He died, while his wife Novie Marie survived the incident.
Trinidad was reportedly among the names in a hit list by an alleged anti-communist group called Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Komunista (Kagubak).
Trinidad was traveling when two unidentified gunmen approached his car and shot him several times. Seven fired cartridges and two deformed slugs from a caliber .45 pistol were recovered from the crime scene.
The NFSW and the Trinidad family condemned in the strongest terms the senseless killing.
They said this violence was aggravated by the Memorandum 32 in the entire Negros Island.
"We extend our condolences to the families and friends of Atty. Anthony Trinidad, a valuable member of the community, a brave lawyer of some political prisoner and farmers with legal cases in the region. It is such a great loss to lose another human rights defender. We will not waver in our call for justice!" the NFSW stated.
Meanwhile, Andrea Trinidad said, "We are still at a loss on the motives behind this dastardly act because our brother was such a kind-hearted, soft-spoken person who was willing to go out of his way to help people in need."
"We do not want to speculate on the motives behind his death nor who the perpetrators are. We leave it to authorities to do their job. We are appealing to the government to please help us seek justice for our brother and get the perpetrators behind jail the soonest possible time," the family said.
"This spate of killings in our country and the culture of violence have to stop. We cannot and should not constantly live in fear. Stop the killings," Andrea said.