Novena starts for drug war dead — and the ‘living dead’

In a gathering of grieving families on Tuesday night at San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City, candles are lighted next to chicks symbolizing their search for justice. —PHOTOS BY GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

They pray for the repose of their loved ones’ souls, but also hope the killers will be hounded by their conscience.

Around 50 families who lost members to police operations or vigilante-style killings linked to the drug war gathered at San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City on Tuesday night to start a novena leading to All Saints’ Day.

Organized by the human rights group EveryWoman and led by Caloocan Bishop Pablo David, they prayed for the thousands who had been killed nationwide since President Duterte launched a bloody crackdown on narcotics in June last year.

Also in attendance were Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice and former Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman.

Susan Balindo of Baigani, a member of EveryWoman, said the novena also sought to recognize the role of women as life-givers and “an important safeguard in the continuing deaths under the Duterte administration.”

The service was  marked with songs and poems condemning the war on drugs, which they said targeted the poor. The families lit candles next to some chicks—symbols of their quest for justice. In funerals for victims of unsolved murders, placing a chick on the casket is believed to keep the perpetrator burning with guilt.

In his message during the rites, David stressed the importance of remembering not only the saints or people who led saintly lives, but also those whose souls could not find peace.

Among them, David said, were the thousands of drug suspects killed in the drug war, whether in police operations or at the hands of masked gunmen.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo David prays over families who have lost loved ones in President Duterte’s antidrug campaign.

“We light candles for them to declare that (these killings are] not right. That this is inhumane and must be stopped. Even animals are not this cruel,” he said.

More importantly, the bishop said, they must also pray for the “living dead” — the killers themselves and those who believe drug addicts don’t deserve a second chance.

“If we pray for Reynaldo de Guzman, we also pray for whoever stabbed him 33 times,” he said, referring to the teenager whose body was found in a creek in Nueva Ecija in September. “We also pray for the souls of the police who shot Kian delos Santos (anotherteenager tagged as a drug courier) even though he begged that he had an exam.”

“As we pray and light these candles for them, may it scorch and rouse their numbed souls. May the sound of chicks pecking at the glass of the caskets of those they killed stay etched in their minds, and may they never find quiet amid the grief of the spouses and children of their victims,” he added.

Family members who shared their experiences during the program wove a common narrative of “nanlaban”—the usual claim of the police that the drug suspects were killed because they supposedly “fought back” and fired shots to resist arrest.

Among them was “Joan,” who lost her husband and son in an “encounter” with the Caloocan police in September last year. More than a year later, she said the only thing that had kept her going was the knowledge that her family was innocent.

“For those who, like me, lost a loved one, let’s show them that we can fight for our rights and for our loved ones. Help us find justice,” she said.