Quiapo priest hits display of placards at Mass

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, or Quiapo Church, said on Tuesday that, while the Church was also against legislation that might violate human rights and freedom like the controversial antiterror law, it was inappropriate to display protest placards or flyers during Mass.

“The church is not [the] venue to express sentiments such as those written on the placards. There was probably some disagreement over the manner in which the police grabbed the items because the protester or activist refused to listen. But the Mass was peaceful so it was not appropriate to show placards, or distribute flyers,” Fr. Douglas Badong, parochial vicar of Quiapo Church, said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.

In a viral Twitter video, two police officers were shown grabbing a bag containing protest materials from a member of Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party who was attending a “Misa Para sa Kapayapaan’’ at the church on Monday.

“Something was wrong in the way they expressed their sentiments against the government; wrong timing, wrong time and wrong venue. We are one with them in expressing their opposition to the law but there is a proper venue,” Badong said.

—Tina G. Santos