Cebu Archbishop alarmed by rising drug killings

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma (CDN FILE PHOTO)

CEBU CITY — Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has expressed concern over the rising death toll on the administration’s war on prohibited drugs.

He said killing suspected criminals has never been and would not be the right antidote to the country’s problem on illegal drugs and crimes.

“We begin to be concerned and afraid knowing that so many (people) have died,” he told reporters after he ordained five new deacons and a priest at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on Tuesday.

“While we support the campaign against drugs, it should be done within the ambit of the law. We feel that anything extrajudicial is not the best way to answer our problems,” he added.

The 66-year-old prelate also denounced plans to revive the death penalty for high-level drug traffickers, saying the sanctity of life must be preserved at all times and in whatever circumstances.

“The question on death penalty has always been debated. Some debate for it, while others debate against it. But on the part of Church, we call on government to address crimes through other means instead of killing criminals,” he explained.

Strictly implementing laws without killing suspected criminals would be one way to address the problem, said Palma.

Senator Vicente Sotto III last week announced plans to bring back the death penalty for “high-level drug traffickers.”

In 2014, Sotto sought the revival of the death penalty law through lethal injection when he authored Senate Bill No. 2080, which proposed to repeal Republic Act No. 9346 or “An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines.”

Sotto cited the need to revive the death penalty for high-level drug traffickers to frighten violators and to prevent them from operating in the country.

Based on the records of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), 146 drug suspects were killed in alleged shootouts with policemen in the region from July 1 to December 2.

At least 205 other drug suspects were gunned down by still unknown assailants. These cases were docketed as “Deaths Under Investigation” by the police.

Last Saturday, a seven-year-old boy died after he was reportedly hit by a stray bullet from a gun of a still unidentified man who reportedly chased a 17-year-old boy believed to be involved in illegal drugs in Barangay Cansaga, Consolacion town, Cebu.

The victim’s father, Wilson Batucan, believed the bullet that killed his son San Niño was fired from a gun owned by a policeman.

Senior Insp. William Homoc, Consolacion Police Station chief, denied the accusation, saying they did not conduct any operation when San Niño was killed.

Palma said the collateral damage just proved that extrajudicial killings have led to more problems.

“An incident like this always makes us feel very sad. An innocent boy was killed. It’s just senseless. We do not deny that drugs is the mother of many crimes, and yet we know that there are other aspects in addressing the problem in a more realistic way,” he said.  SFM