Parishioners from the cities of Legazpi, Ligao and Tabaco in Albay assemble at the Albay Cathedral after holding rallies in their churches calling for an end to street killings and a start to a healing process. —MICHAEL JAUCIAN
LEGAZPI CITY — We don’t want to be the next victim of summary killings.
This was the common cry of thousands of parishioners, including the youth, from churches all over Albay province at rallies in three cities — Ligao, Tabaco and this city — against the street executions of drug suspects.
Students and members of youth groups, some of them Church-backed, carried placards and prayed the Rosary with other participants in the rallies.
In this city, protesters assembled at St. Raphael Church and walked 4 kilometers to Albay Cathedral, which was designated as convergence area for the rallies that carried the theme “Stop the killings, start the healing.”
Vincent Dominic Salinel, 18, a student of St. Peter’s Academy in Polangui town, said he joined the rallies because he believed these could draw government attention and help put a stop to the gangland-style executions of suspected drug users and pushers in mostly urban poor communities.
Empathy
“I really feel sorry for the victims especially those students who were wrongly identified and killed by authorities,” he said.
“This has to be stopped,” he said.
Kyle Escalada, a Grade 11 student of Divine World College of Legazpi Senior High School Department, said being at the rally was his way of sympathizing with relatives of victims of killings.
“I am offering prayers for them, that they may be comforted at all times,” he said.
He said he was “sick and tired” of hearing news about killings in the country.
“Our place is no longer safe,” he said.
Raising awareness
“We don’t want to become another Kian,” Kyle said. “We want to enjoy our life to the fullest so please let’s stop the killings,” he said.
He was referring to 17-year-old Kian delos Santos who was killed by police in a drug operation in Caloocan City in Metro Manila.
Rev. Fr. Rex Arjona, Social Action Center director of the Diocese of Legazpi, said the main objective of the rallies was to raise the level of consciousness among the faithful about why the killings should stop and the process of healing should start.
“The call to stop the killings is a shared responsibility,” Arjona said. “It has to be a concerted effort, not only by the police or by the government and even by the Church.”
He said Church leaders were also calling on the government to practice accountability and transparency since good governance was attainable only if human rights and lives were respected.
After Mass, Bishop Joel Baylon, head of Diocese of Legazpi, and parishioners lit candles praying for government enlightenment.