THE DIOCESE of Bacolod started displaying this tarp at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City in protest of what Church leaders said is a “culture of death.” CARLA P. GOMEZ/INQUIRER VISAYAS
BACOLOD CITY—The Diocese of Bacolod started hanging tarpaulins expressing alarm at the spike in the number of cases of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects and protesting what a diocese official said is the apparent culture of death being promoted by President Duterte.
By 11 a.m., the tarpaulin, bearing the Sixth Commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” hung in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral, the seat of the diocese.
Priests in the diocese, said Fr. Felix Pasquin, have taken to the pulpit to air alarm over the rising number of extrajudicial killings.
“Killing is forbidden by God,” said Pasquin, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral. He said while it is legitimate for law enforcers to kill suspects in self-defense, “how do we determine if the claim of self defense is really true?”
Pasquin said the diocese had received reports of vigilantism and gangland executions of
suspects.
The killings, however, had been inspired by President Rodrigo Duterte, he said.
“Killing comes from the mouth of the President,” said Pasquin. “Every time he speaks, he says ‘I will kill you’. That has become part of our culture,” he added.
He said law breakers should be given a chance to reform. Death, he said, removes this chance.
The diocese had been in the news during the 2010 elections when Church leaders here made public a list of candidates and elected officials, lumped as “Team Patay,” that the Church asked voters to reject for supporting the Reproductive Health (RH) Law.
The diocese also came out with a list endorsing candidates that should be supported for opposing the RH Law, calling it “Team Buhay.”
Pasquin said the tarpaulins convey the Church position against vigilante killings in the same way that it tried to relay Church opposition to the RH Law.
The diocese’s move during the 2010 elections was upheld by the Supreme Court in a case filed by the Commission on Elections questioning the display of the election tarps.
“The diocese of Bacolod is again standing up for the sacredness of human life,” Pasquin said.
“We are in favor of the campaign against drugs, but are taking a strong stand against the rampant extra judicial killings of drug suspects,” Pasquin said.
The Church, he added, is also opposed to the restoration of the death penalty.