Ecija church feeds families of drug suspects slain by cops

CABANATUAN CITY –– Around 80 families of drug suspects killed during a series of police operations in Nueva Ecija were treated to lunch and were gifted with bags of groceries by the St. Nicholas Parish, following a Mass held on Saturday (June 29), which invoked divine justice for the victims.

“Alam natin na ang Diyos ay Diyos ng katarungan. Hindi po diyan natatapos ‘yan (We know our God is a Just God. Trust that this is not the end),” said Fr. Joel Cariaso, during his homily, which urged the families to bury their anger.

“Sana po ang manatili sa inyong puso ay hindi yung galit, hindi yung bitterness, kundi ito ay ipaubaya sa Panginoon (I hope what stays in your hearts are not anger and bitterness but leave everything to Go),” Cariaso said.

The Mass was part of the parish church’s outreach program called Father to the Fatherless, which assures children orphaned by the state-led war on drugs that the Church grieves with them, he said.

One of the program’s beneficiaries was 66-year-old Romana (not her real name), who believed that her 40-year-old son was tagged by an angry neighbor as a drug pusher.

Her son was killed in an anti-drug operation in April.

Heeding Cariaso’s homily, she said, “Iyong itaas ang kakampi namin. May araw na makakamit din niya ang hustisya (The one above is our ally. The day will come when he would attain justice).” (Editor: Leti Z. Boniol)