CBCP: Stop the killings!
by Angelika Ortega
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on Tuesday for the end of the spate of extrajudicial killings and the start of “healing” of the nation after the controversial deaths of three teenagers last month.
“In the name of God, stop the killings! […] The healing must begin. Malasakit must be restored. Pakikiramay must be active. Pakikipagkapwa-tao must be gained back. The rule of law must prevail,” the CBCP Permanent Council said in a statement signed Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
The council condemned the “remorselessness” of the killing of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman.
“Kian, Carl, Reynaldo…they were young boys, enjoying life, loving sons of parents who doted on them. Now an entire nation knows them by name because their lives have been snuffed out so cruelly, their dreams and aspirations forever consigned to the sad realm of ‘what could have been but never will be,” the statement read.
The council added, “They are only three of so many, awfully many, who have paid the price of what is touted to be the country’s resolute drive against criminality!”
The students were killed in different police operations in the government’s bloody war against illegal drugs.
Furthermore, the statement said that the nation is guilty and complicit for being silent, inactive and hesitant amid the killings.
“We stand firmly against drugs and the death drugs have caused, but killing is not the solution of the problem.”
The bishops urged the Filipino Catholics to offer a 40-day period of prayer, ring the bells at 8 pm, and light candles for the victims of the war on drugs and war in Marawi City from Sept. 23 to Nov. 1.
“We intend to offend none but the evil in our midst. We are angry at none but the indifference amongst us. We fight the darkness not with spark of bullets but with the light of Christ. We beg for prayers and we ask for a change of heart in all of us. […] Let the healing begin,” the bishops said.
