CBCP head: It’s not Duterte; it’s the killings
Archibishop Socrates Villegas
DAGUPAN CITY — The head of an influential group of Catholic bishops on Saturday sought to correct what he said was a wrong impression that the Church was targeting President Rodrigo Duterte in its criticism of hundreds of killings linked to his war on drugs, saying the criticism was aimed not at the person, but the issue.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in an interview with a local television program, said he prayed for the success of the Duterte administration though Church criticism of the street executions of drug suspects is mistaken for a denunciation of the President himself.
“I hope it is clear that we are not personally against [Mr. Duterte, the individual],” said Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
“We are taking a stand on issues. And I hope the discourse will remain on the level of issues and not on persons,” he said.
The Church had strongly condemned the spate of street executions of suspected drug dealers since the start of the Duterte administration on June 30 last year. It also opposes a measure to restore the death penalty, which Mr. Duterte is pushing as a cure to the drug menace and criminality.
“The Ten Commandments are commandments. They are not suggestions. They are God’s commandments, that is why they are obligatory. No exceptions,” Villegas said.
He said streamers and tarpaulins with the phrase, “Huwag kang papatay [Thou shall not kill, one of the Ten Commandments],” a reference to the killings of drug suspects, had been hung by Catholic laymen in churches and not initiated by priests or any official of the Church.
Asked how the Church reacts to attacks hurled by the President, Villegas said the Church was not new to persecution.
In his impromptu speeches, Mr. Duterte repeatedly used cuss words against bishops and at one time called them hypocrites for seeing flaws in his war on drugs but keeping mum on the Church’s own frailty.
Villegas said the Church was strong enough to withstand Mr. Duterte’s rants.
“We were fed to the lions. We were jailed. We were beheaded,” said Villegas, referring to early Christians who had been hunted for their beliefs and executed.
“What is important is that whatever happens, our focus is on Jesus because that is the meaning and purpose of everything,” Villegas said.
Villegas admitted he was hurt but not angered by the bashing he had been getting on social media, which was believed to be the result of Church criticism of killings arising from Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs. —GABRIEL CARDINOZA
