CBCP told: Suggest solutions to drug problem before EJK comments

A Palace official has called on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to suggest way to combat the drug menace in the country instead of criticizing summary executions amid the government’s bloody war on drugs.

In an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Ana Maria Banaag maintained that extrajudicial killings are not state-sponsored.

“However the CBCP may claim it, perhaps they might suggest solutions on how to go about the problem na lang siguro and help the government before they make judgments about all these EJKs and attribute it to the President or the administration,” Banaag said.

“Mas maganda siguro na lang na magtulungan or kung may ibang suggestion sila na mas magandang gawin about the problem (It’s better that they help out or if they have other suggestions that could be used for the problem) then maybe it’s best to talk…rather than who’s right or who’s wrong,” she added.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly slammed the Catholic church for speaking out against human rights abuses in the administration’s antinarcotics drive, calling out priests for alleged corruption, womanizing, and other excesses.

But noting that Duterte “gets tired and sometimes annoyed,” Banaag said the President’s series of tirades against the Church did not mean that he resented criticisms.

“Sometimes, tao din — tao din lang naman ang ating Presidente ‘di ba? He is a working President. He works hard, he gets tired. Sometimes he gets annoyed. But at the end of the day, sana we can give our President also allowance for mistakes. Kung may pagkukulang man siya sa pananalita at least nagta-trabaho naman siya,” she said.

(The President is also human. I hope we can give him allowance for mistakes. If there’s something lacking in the way he speaks, at least he’s working.)

“So sana ma-compensate din ng pagta-trabaho ng ating Presidente ‘yung mga criticisms niya (I hope the President’s work compensates for the criticisms against him). Because, you know, if they criticize him ‘di ba, like any other person, like anyone else, if they criticize you publicly, sometimes you get irritated also,”

The war on drugs has claimed about 7,000 lives since Duterte assumed office. JE