Antiadmin groups gear up for anti-EJK prayer rally on Sunday

Anti-EJK rally in front of Camp Crame —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Antiadministration groups are joining the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and lay organizations in a prayer gathering for national healing on Sunday, saying the country is being ruptured by President Duterte’s relentless war on drugs that has killed thousands, divided the nation and birthed tyranny.

The two main antiadministration coalitions—Movement Against Tyranny (MAT) and #TindigPilipinas—have different political leanings but have found common ground in condemning the killings of drug suspects, who were overwhelmingly poor and described by the President and his supporters as beyond redemption.

Unifying voice

The umbrella groups, which saw the Catholic Church as a unifying voice in the call to end the killings, were responding to the CBCP’s call on Filipinos to take part in the “Lord Heal Our Land Sunday” Mass at the historic Edsa Shrine that would be led by CBCP president and Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

“We hope that the November 5 Mass at Edsa Shrine and other activities will contribute to our people’s growing clamor to end the extrajudicial killings and the increasing tyranny of the Duterte administration,” MAT said in a statement on Friday.

It said many other killings also had resulted from the government’s “all out war” against communist insurgents and the antiterrorism operations in Mindanao.

‘More humane’ solutions

“President Duterte has already admitted that he cannot wipe out illegal drugs nor end rebellion within his term. He should realize that criminality and rebellion are complex, multifaceted problems that cannot be simply resolved by aggressive, often fatal, police and military campaigns,” MAT said.

“It is time for him to reconfigure his brutal strategies into more humane, just and progressive solutions that address the social, economic and even cultural roots of the problems,” it said.

#TindigPilipinas said it was joining the Sunday event “for the ‘healing of the nation’ marred by division and killings as a result of the government’s war on drugs.”

No. 1 problem

A year and five months into his presidency, Mr. Duterte continues to maintain that illegal drugs, particularly “shabu” (crystal meth), is the country’s number one problem.

The Philippine National Police has admitted that officers have killed more than 3,800 drug suspects, allegedly in self-defense, since Mr. Duterte assumed the presidency last year. Thousands more have been killed by unknown assailants that human rights groups believe were working for the authorities.

Sunday’s Mass would be followed by a candlelit procession with the image of Our Lady of Fatima from the Edsa Shrine to the People Power Monument less than a kilometer away.

‘Show of force’

The national lay organization Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (SLP) has urged Catholics to join the prayer gathering in a “show of force” against ills plaguing Philippine society, including extrajudicial killings.

SLP is made up of Catholic lay groups in the dioceses and parishes all over the country.

The CBCP is encouraging Catholics to pray the rosary daily during its 33-day “Start the Healing” campaign until the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8.

Priests were encouraged to hold Masses in the provinces for those unable to join the Edsa rites.

The CBCP has just concluded its Sept. 23-Nov. 1 “Stop the Killings” campaign marked by daily rosaries and 8 p.m. lighting of candles and tolling of church bells.