By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — A human rights lawyer based in Roxas City survived an ambush attack late morning today, Sept. 23, after attending a hearing.
Lawyer Criselda Heredia posted on her Facebook account that her car was strafed while traversing Timpas, Panitan town in Capiz, just a stone’s throw away from a military camp Antonio Belo.
Nine bullets were recovered from the car, she told Bulatlat.
Heredia was accompanied by her daughter and a client.
In a message sent to Bulatlat.com, Heredia said the target of the assailant could either be her or her client.
In a statement, lawyers group National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers chapter in Panay held state security forces accountable.
Heredia, according to NUPL, has been “red-tagged in posters and has been personally threatened by a military agent who visited her office and warned her to slow down on her human rights advocacy.”
Apart from being a lawyer, Heredia is also a cultural worker who used to perform musical presentations and has mounted painting exhibits in both Iloilo and Roxas City.
NUPL-Panay said the attack came in the wake of the call of international organizations to President Duterte to protect lawyers in the Philippines.
Under Duterte, 47 lawyers, including judges and prosecutors, have been killed.
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