By KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
www.nordis.net
BAGUIO CITY — Family, friends, church groups, private riders club, and other civic organizations in Conner, Apayao province staged a motorcade on July 31 to demand justice for the murder of Prosecutor Victor Begtang, Jr.
More than a thousand individuals attended the activity that coincided with the 40th day of his death. They urged authorities to speed up their investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The participants traversed the main town roads from Barangay Buluan to Guinaang. The parade ended at the victim’s home in Malama, where they held an ecumenical service.
Unidentified assailants shot dead Begtang in the afternoon of June 23 inside their family’s compound in Malama. He was the deputy city fiscal of Ilagan City, Isabela, at the time of his death.
Deeper probe
The victim’s brother, Engineer Randy Begtang, lamented the slow-paced investigation of the case in a virtual presser on the same day.
He said that the family only received an investigation report from the day of the killing until today and has not received any updates from the authorities.
Randy said the police must conduct a more extensive probe, revealing his concern that the case might become just another unsolved murder. He recalled that before his brother, at least three members of the legal profession suffered the same fate in the province. All the cases remained cold to date, with no suspect apprehended, he said.
“We appeal to the Apayao people and the wider public to help call out to the concerned government agencies to do their job and resolve my brother’s case,” he said.
The police have yet to identify the suspect and the motive of Begtang’s murder.
He also underscored the attack’s brazenness, which was done in broad daylight, in their yard with people witnessing the incident.
The Begtang family is offering a P200,000 reward for any information that would help resolve the murder of their kin as they demand a deeper probe on the case.
“We appeal to the public, if you have any information that would help in finding the culprit in the killing of my brother, please speak out,” Randy said.
“We will assure the security of those who will give us information,” he added.
He shared that friends, colleagues, and supporters of the slain lawyer donated the cash for the reward.
At a loss
The Begtang family is at a loss as to what might be the motive behind the killing.
Justin, the victim’s second child, said losing his father to an assassin’s bullet is hard to fathom.
“My father is a good man, humble and generous. He extends legal advice and a helping hand to anyone who would come to him. He has no enemies,” he said.
The younger Begtang said they could not think of anyone who would want to kill their father.
He also dispelled speculations that the victim was planning to run for an elective position this coming election. However, he said some people were prodding his father to run for a mayoral seat or congress.
“My father had no plans of running for any position this coming election, if he had he would have told us,” Justine said.
Justin said his father’s murder made them more mindful of their security. He shared that after his father’s death, they fenced their yard. “We never thought of putting up a fence until my father was killed, it may have been too late but we are now mindful of our security,” he said.
“It is really hard and painful every time I pass by our garage where he was shot, but we are coping by bonding together,” he said.
Fight for justice
Justine said his father’s death should serve as a wake-up call for the people of Apayao. He said that if they allow the killing of a lawyer like his father go unpunished, it will further encourage those behind to repeat the act.
Pastor Joseph Eming of the Apayao Bible Christian Church in Conner reiterated that “evil will triumph if good people do nothing.” He encouraged Apayao residents to “speak up against senseless killings.”
He described Begtang as a simple guy who loves Apayao and freely offers his time and knowledge in the service of others.
The pastor recognized that fear of being the next victim could cause people to turn a blind eye. He also noted that killings mostly go unnoticed in Apayao being a remote province, which further emboldens perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.
“We appeal to wider public outside Apayao, to help us seek justice for Attorney Begtang,” Eming said.
63rd lawyer killed
In an earlier statement, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) condemned the killing of Begtang, noting that he is the ninth state prosecutor and 63rd lawyer killed under President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The IBP grieves and appalled by the increasing and sheer number of assassinations of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors with impunity,” IBP National President Burt Estrada said.
He noted the “alarmingly increased” killings of the bar and the bench members, rising to as much as 500% under the current administration.
“In stark contrast, the number of lawyers killed during the previous administrations stretching way back to 1972 was no less than 10 for each administration, with one administration even having no lawyer death ever recorded,” the IBP president explained.
Estrada said they would assist the family in pursuing the case and monitor its development to ensure that “perpetrators can be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” # nordis.net
