DAVAO CITY, Philippines—“Many are killed not because of drugs.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, in a pastoral letter, said Sunday as it expressed concern on the spate of drug-related killings because of the bloody war on drugs of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
“This traffic in illegal drugs needs to be stopped and overcome. But the solution does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers,” the country’s bishops said.
“Many are killed not because of drugs. Those who kill them are not brought to account. An even greater cause of concern is the indifference of many to this kind of wrong. It is considered as normal, and, even worse, something that (according to them) needs to be done,” said CBCP president Socrates Villegas.
The three-page CBCP’s pastoral statement was read in all Holy Masses across the country, rallying the Catholic faithful to take a stand against the drug killings.
Villegas, the archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, said that Duterte’s war on drugs which led to the killing of thousands is wrong, pointed out that the country’s bishops were with Filipino who want change but “change must be guided by truth and justice.”
“We cannot correct a wrong by doing another wrong. A good purpose is not a justification for using evil means. It is good to remove the drug problem, but to kill in order to achieve this is also wrong,” Villegas added. “To consent and keep silent in front of evil is to be an accomplice to it. If we neglect drug addicts and pushers, we have become part of the drug problem.”
Villegas said that the government “has no right to kill life,” saying it is only God’s steward and not the owner of life. “The life of every person comes from God. It is he who gives it, and it is he alone who can take it back.
At present, more than 2, 500 drug personalities were killed, according to fatality count given by the Philippine National Police. PNP’s campaign against illegal drugs dubbed as “Oplan Tokhang” was momentarily suspended following the death of South Korean businessman inside the Camp Crame, shifting its focus to purging of rogue cops as the issue caused a damaging blow to the state’s law enforcement body.
CBCP’s statement came as London-based Amnesty International released a report titled “If you are poor you are killed”: Extrajudicial Executions in the Philippines’ “War on Drugs,” detailing how government anti-illegal drug operatives conducted “Oplan Tokhang” which resulted to the so-called extra-judicial killings, planted evidence and receiving payments for each killing, a claim strongly rebuked by the Palace.
Meanwhile, United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard, in her Twitter response on Jan. 31 when the AI report published, said: “A pause in the war on drugs is welcomed. It must include Investigation of ALL unlawful death, Accountability, Reparation.”
On Sunday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in his response to CBCP’s pastoral letter, slammed the Roman Catholic Church as “shameless hypocrites,” narrating a litany of what he termed as “sins” of the Catholic Church such as sexual harassment, corruption, among others.
But CBCP said it will continue “to speak against evil even as we acknowledge and repent of our own shortcomings. We will do this even if it will bring persecution upon us because we are all brothers and sisters responsible for each other.”
“We will help drug addicts so that they may be healed and start a new life. We will stand in solidarity and care for those left behind by those who have been killed and for the victims of drug addicts. Let us renew our efforts to strengthen families,” it added. (davaotoday.com)
