says President Rodrigo Duterte days after human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos was killed

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte denied he was behind the killing of a lawyer for communists, as critics blamed the Philippine National Police for the death of human rights lawyer and peasant advocate Benjamin Ramos in Negros Occidental. Benjamin Ramos was in front of a store near the public plaza in Kabankalan City when he was shot at close range by two unidentified men

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – A human rights lawyer here was killed by riding-in-tandem assailants Tuesday night, November 6, in Barangay 5, Kabankalan City. Described as the go-to pro bono lawyer for political prisoners, environemntalists, and peasants by his NUPL colleagues, Ramos was described by local police as lawyer for "suspected rebels and suspected drug users." Sapayan also said they do not discount the possibility that Ramos’ death could be a case of state-sponsored killing. Human rights groups call on the government to 'act with urgency' in addressing the rising violence against human rights defenders

MANILA, Philippines – Groups on Wednesday, November 7, condemned the murder of lawyer Benjamin Ramos, which comes amid continuous violence against human rights defenders in the Philippines.
An unidentified attacker fatally shoots Benjamin Ramos, a Philippines lawyer opposing President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, in Kabankalan.