Killings contradict government's pro-poor stance, CBCP body says

MANILA, Philippines — Drug-related deaths in the Philippines, even in the context of police operations, contradict the government's thrust to protect the lives of the poor, who make up most of the casualties in the drug war, the Catholic Church's social development arm said.

 

The National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas, the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, also said in a statement that it supports a call from parishes in Iloilo for authorities to respect the dignity of life and to end extrajudicial killings.

 

"[The] killing of drug traffickers without due process, even in the name of a just cause, is morally unacceptable," NASSA/Caritas Executive Secretary Edwin Gariguez, a priest, said in a separate statement.

 

The statement came after the Archdiocese of Jaro in Iloilo held a silent protest condemning the drug-related deaths, with at least 97 parishes putting up streamers calling for an end to the killings. Earlier, the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia in Ilocos Sur also held a similar protest.

 

 

Gariguez said that while he supports the administration's goal to eradicate illegal drugs and criminality, the method is unforgivable.

 

"Unfortunately, reports show that majority of those killed are poor people residing in squatter areas," Gariguez said, adding that they are the most vulnerable to be killed.

 

He also added that the poor are the most vulnerable to having their rights destroyed, violated and suppressed.

 

Monsignor Meliton Oso, Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center director, revealed they are creating a council to handle the drug rehabilitation program for surrenderees.

 

"We are looking at a therapeutic community-based rehabilitation program in coordination with the barangay local government units," Osa said.