Bzzzzz: International groups list 47 lawyers, including 4 from Cebu, killed since 2016

CEBU. In this January 17, 2019 file photo, former Cebu City assistant prosecutor Mary Ann Castro was shot dead by an unidentified man on a motorcycle at 9:53 p.m. along Escario Street, Cebu City. (Alan Tangcawan/File photo)
CEBU. In this January 17, 2019 file photo, former Cebu City assistant prosecutor Mary Ann Castro was shot dead by an unidentified man on a motorcycle at 9:53 p.m. along Escario Street, Cebu City. (Alan Tangcawan/File photo)

People talk about...

[1] DE LIMA’S ‘HATE LIST.’ The news report about jailed Senator Leila de Lima having submitted a list of persons who “persecuted” her to the local United States (US) Embassy sets off speculations as to who are in the list. It must include Senator Bato de la Rosa whose visa to the US has already been cancelled.

[2] BONG GO GETS ROUGH ON TRILLANES. The senator called the former senator a “asong ulol” (“rabid dog.”) When the term of Bong Go’s boss would expire, Go said, he and President Duterte would have themselves vaccinated against rabies.

Who’re not in list

Aside from the ABS-CBN controversy, the issue that’s getting international attention is the killing of lawyers in the Philippines.

Lawyers for Lawyers and other international groups of lawyers listed 47 lawyers slain in the Philippines since 2016, when President Duterte assumed office. And four of them are Cebu-based lawyers, namely Goering Paderanga Sr. and Gerick Paderanga (Dec. 22, 2016), Jonah John Ungab (Feb. 19, 2018), Salvador Solima (July 2, 2018) and Mary Ann Castro (Jan. 17, 2019). Ungab was also a town vice mayor while Castro was an assistant city prosecutor.

The 47th victim was Frederick Anthony Santos who had testified before the Senate on the anomaly in the Bureau of Corrections related to the good conduct time allowance for prisoners. He was gunned down last February 19.

The list didn’t include Noel Archival who was slain on February 18, 2014 and Inocencio de la Serna who survived an assassination attempt on September 2, 2019. And it didn’t specify whether each murder was an extrajudicial killing or induced by other causes.

The international group submitted a report to UN Commission on Human Rights, which included, other than acts of violence, interference with the independence of lawyers as professionals, labeling or tagging, surveillance, and culture of impunity bred by the failure to solve the murders.

‘Dead bodies’

Three persons killed in separate shooting and stabbing incidents in Cebu City in less than five hours Monday, February 23. Bodies in salvaging incidents in Talisay City in a span of the last two weeks.

There have been so many unsolved killings in Cebu that nobody’s keeping count anymore.

Should news reporters not bother about not using “dead” with the word “body” since a “body” is supposed to be dead already? Yes, there is: their readers expect them to observe correct usage, perhaps more than they expect the police to catch and prosecute the killers.

But using “dead” with “body” is not always incorrect. Language experts say the adjective intensifies the fact of death. Besides, usage may trump grammar. By the way, replacing “dead” with “lifeless” is at best an awkward attempt not to use “dead” with “body.”

MCWD directors’ per diem

Those who’re wondering how much a director of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District, here are some figures (per Executive Oder #65 series of 2012), which may be the current rate unless superseded by an executive order our informant didn’t know about:

[] Class A LWD: P10,000, maximum per meeting; P240,000, maximum per year.

[] Class B LWD: P6,600; P159,840.

[] Class C LWD: P3,675; P88, 200.

And so forth, so on. You get the idea. By the way, MCWD is class A.

The board chairman gets no more than 20 percent of what each of his directors get. Generally, no salaries, allowances, benefits and other bonuses, unless specifically authorized by law and approved by the president.

We don’t know if MCWD enjoys the exemption.

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