3 bishops urge peaceful resistance to ‘a murderous and corrupt public order’

This award-winning Inquirer photograph by Rafael Lerma of the Philippine Daily Inquirer shows the grief and pain of Jennelyn Olaires over the death of her partner Michael Siaron, who was killed in an anti-drug operation in 2016. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Three Catholic bishops have fired another salvo of condemnation of the killings in what they saw as a prevailing culture of impunity under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“It is like living in the valley of death — killing of drug users and opponents; helpless death in the pandemic, death by governance without vision, death by shameless corruption that seems to break all records. Killings! Murders! Deaths!” the three archbishops — Marlo Peralta of Nueva Segovia, Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, and Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao — said in a joint statement issued on Saturday.

“Bullets kill. Viruses kill. Governance without direction kills. Corruption kills. Trolls kill with fake news. Hunger kills. When will the killings stop? The poor pay for the corruption of the powerful. The nation is sinking in debt,” the statement continued.

In light of this, the archbishops encouraged the faithful to “resist and correct a culture of murder and plunder” as a “moral duty.”

“We citizens must be law-abiding, but we are not pacifists,” they said. “We must RESIST a murderous and corrupt public order.”

“Non-violent resistance, such as peaceful assemblies of dissent or sober discussions of social issues guided by the Gospel or rallies for honesty and heroism, is the path we must choose always. This is the only morally acceptable resistance,” they added.

They also encouraged the public to practice their right to suffrage.

“In this spirit, we plead with our youth and first-time voters to register themselves,” they said.

“We appeal to the sense of patriotism of the reluctant candidates to bring back ethics in our political life and run according to your conscience not according to the surveys,” they added.

The archbishops also encouraged parishes to organize penitential rosaries and reparation prayers to the Divine Mercy so “that the Lord may forgive our murders and our support for murders”.

Despite the current situation, the archbishops expressed optimism.

“Are we facing a dead end and are we helpless? NO. We overcome evil by the power of good. Our help is from the Lord,” they said.

“Against the tide of murders and plunder, let us bear witness to TRUTH and LIFE!”

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