Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz . INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Catholic Church will not stop airing its opposition to the death penalty bill despite being criticized by politicians for supposedly meddling in state affairs, a former head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said on Sunday.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, said the Church would continue to proclaim its teachings on the sanctity of life even if priests were being subjected to attacks by proponents of the death penalty bill.
READ: Former CBCP head tells Alvarez: Don’t play God
He was responding to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who once called bishops a “bunch of shameless hypocrites” for issuing a united stand against the spate of drug-related killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“I am not offended, I understand him (Alvarez). Kaya lamang napakahirap naman tumahimik ako bilang alagad ng Diyos pagkat pangalan ng Diyos ang sinusuway, wala akong kibo. Ano ako, manunuod?” Cruz said over Church-run Radyo Veritas. “Huwag naman ganun. Kung gusto niyang pag-aralan ‘yung sinabi ko, sige lang salamat. Kung ayaw niya, tapon niya sa basura salamat din no problem.”
READ: Alvarez: Bring it on
Cruz earlier advised Alvarez against “playing God” with the latter’s threat to strip members of the Duterte-controlled supermajority in Congress of deputy speakerships and committee chairmanships if they will oppose the death penalty bill.
Alvarez, author of the death penalty bill, said former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would be among those who could be replaced if she opposed the measure. It was during Arroyo’s term as President that the death penalty was abolished.
READ: Palace defends Alvarez: He’s just standing his ground
“Hindi ko naman mauutos ‘yung huwag kang papatay, sa akin ba galing ‘yun? Galing sa Panginoon ‘yun, inuulit ko lang. Kung makinig siya (Alvarez), salamat. Kung hindi, siya ang bahala. Kung minsan, public officials, they should be public servants, hindi they became like ‘public lords and public Gods’ nakakahiya,” Cruz added.
The measure seeking to reinstate capital punishment for heinous crimes is being debated at the plenary of the House of Representatives./rga
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