Society must speak out vs killings, Bishop Bacani says

Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr. said society should not stay silent when it comes to abuses, as he criticized President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

The bishop said the case of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos who was recently killed in a police operation was just one of the many incidents of extrajudicial killings.

Police in Caloocan claimed that the minor was a drug runner who tried to resist arrest and fired a gun at authorities, prompting them to shoot back. But witnesses said this was not true.

READ: Bacani urges fellow bishops: Speak loudly vs EJKs

“Kaya nakakalungkot ‘yan ay pang-abuso; dapat na panagutin ang mga taong’ yan sa harap ng lipunan. Ako hinihingi ko na patawarin sila ng Diyos, na sila ay makonsensya humingi ng tawad sa Diyos at magtamo ng kapatawaran, subalit sa ating lipunan kinakailangan na ang mga ganyan ay bigyan ng karampatang parusa o pagdisisplina, hindi natin dapat sinasangayunan,” Bacani said.

(The abuses are saddening; those involved should be held responsible in front of society. I’m asking the Lord to forgive them and that their conscience makes them ask God for forgiveness and to attain it, but in our society, they must be punished and disciplined; we must not just consent their actions.)

If the society won’t speak up, he said the killings would be a common part of life. FM/JE

READ: More Church officials speak out vs drug killings