Gunman shoots Christ the King statue in Cotabato province

The statue of Christ the King in Kabacan town, Cotabato province incurred three bullet marks – one just below the heart, on its waist, and its left knee after an unidentified gunman fired at it over the weekend. CONTRIBUTED/Rasty Manuel

KIDAPAWAN CITY –– An unidentified man barged into a Catholic church in Kabacan, Cotabato province at past 6 a.m. on Saturday, March 6, and shot the statue of Christ the King thrice.

The statue incurred three bullet marks – one just below the heart, on its waist, and its left knee, said Rasty Manuel, a Kabacan resident and Christ the King devotee, who posted the image of the damaged statue on his Facebook page.

A witness saw the man, who appeared to be in his 40s, barge inside the parish church in Poblacion and yelled, “If you are really the powerful God, save yourself,” before firing three shots using a caliber-45 pistol at the statue in the middle of the altar.

“God knows. God sees everything! Do not disrespect Him, nor challenge Him. Many have done it in the past then regretted it in the end,” Manuel ranted, addressing the attacker.

The attacker believed to be mentally disturbed, left on a motorbike, according to the witness.

Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco and Kabacan Mayor Gerlo Guzman have separately directed the police to look into the matter and bring the perpetrator before the bar of justice.

The Kabacan church attack came three weeks after unidentified men desecrated three Catholic chapels in two villages of Lamitan City in Basilan.

In the Lamitan incident, the statues were either beheaded or toppled down.

LZB