MANILA - The Integrated Bar of the Philippines is demanding a swift investigation into the killing of Negros Oriental lawyer Anthony Trinidad last week.

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"For if lawyers who are the sentinels of the rule of law and who serve the poor are themselves assassinated with impunity, no one would be safe and no one would expect justice in our country," it said.

On July 23, Trinidad was shot dead while his wife was wounded in an attack by motorcycle-riding assailants in Guihulngan City. The couple were on their way home from a hearing in neighboring La Libertad town.

The IBP remembered Trinidad as “good and selfless,” who chose public interest cases in his hometown over a lucrative career in Manila.

"The killing of Atty. Trinidad is added to the growing list of murders and attempts on the life of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors in the Philippines," it said.

The group said it will add more benefits to Trinidad and "all others who may be attacked possibly for their public interest lawyering."

In March, the IBP said 38 lawyers, judges, and prosecutors have been killed since August 2016.

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President Rodrigo Duterte and the justice department have ordered investigations into the killing.

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The lawyer's murder was among the latest in the spate of killings in the province.

A school principal, an education department employee, and a barangay chairman were also gunned down last week.

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