President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. KING RODRIGUEZ/PPD
A CATHOLIC bishop on Monday proposed that President Duterte implement a stronger antipoverty drive as well as an effective rehabilitation program for drug dependents instead of extending his antidrug campaign.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo offered this piece of advice as he urged the President to also train his sights on eliminating corruption in government.
Pabillo issued the statement in reaction to Duterte’s pronouncement that he would need six more months to conduct the war against illegal drugs.
Pabillo, chair of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on the Laity, said that Duterte was “not a man of one word.”
“In the campaign, he categorically said the drug problem would be solved in six months or he would step down. But he is not a man of one word. His words cannot be trusted and he gives a lot of excuses,” Pabillo said.
For his part, Lipa Bishop Ramon Arguelles expressed concern about more extrajudicial killings as the bloody campaign that promises a crackdown on illegal drugs continues.
“I am worried the anti-illegal drug campaign will fail. But I am also worried about more extrajudicial killings,” he said.
Arguelles said the weak anti-narcotics campaign of past administrations and the people’s apathy led to this situation.
Pray the rosary drive
Meanwhile, the CBCP urged the faithful to pray the rosary as it prepares to launch a three-month campaign to say a prayer for each of the country’s 81 provinces through the contemplative prayer.
The “Million Roses for the World: Filipinos in Prayer for the Nation” will be led by CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Tuesday at the Letran Chapel in Intramuros.
In a statement, the CBCP said the 95-day prayer drive is in solidarity with the call of Pope Francis for prayers at a recent interfaith summit in Assisi, Italy.
Hate and lies
Villegas, who is also archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, said the Philippines has been torn apart by sociocultural and political issues, hate and lies.
“We have forgotten to pray. We have neglected to pray. We have been too busy with ourselves building our towers of Babel. Let us pray for the whole nation. Let us pray as a united nation,” he said.
From Sept. 20 to Dec. 23, the rosary will be prayed for one of the country’s 81 provinces each day.
Each mystery of the rosary will be prayed for an end to violence, for continued peace, the overseas Filipino workers, persecuted Christians and the special intention of the particular province.
The drive is led by the CBCP, along with Aid to the Church in Need Philippines, Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines, Family Rosary Crusade and Mother Butler Mission Guild.
The province to be prayed for each day will be posted daily on the Facebook page “A Million Roses for the World: Filipinos at Prayer for the Nation.”
“We must reverse the tide of hate and confusion and fill the air again with words of peace, truth and love. Let us the resist the culture of terror and fear with the balm of prayer and mercy,” he said.