St. Scho sisters condemn attacks vs gov't critics, continued killings

MANILA, Philippines — Nuns running St. Scholastica’s College, one of the leading Catholic institutions in the country, have condemned the government’s brutal anti-narcotics campaign and the attacks hurled at individuals and organizations perceived to be critical of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Manila Priory and the academic community of SSC expressed their concern Tuesday over what they called “disturbing events” happening in the country, which they said pose serious threats to the democratic and moral foundations of society.

The nuns slammed the continued killings, mostly of urban poor slum dwellers, linked to the drug war even after the change of command in the Philippine National Police.

Last Friday, 13 people were killed in simultaneous police operations in the province of Bulacan. It was a day after Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde assumed the top post in the police force.

“We are ashamed of the invectives spewed by the president against international bodies and officials who have expressed concern over these killings and those who have declared their intent to investigate them in performance of their duties,” the Benedictine sisters said.

They also raised alarm over the alleged suppression of dissent, citing the detention of Sen. Leila de Lima, attempts to unseat Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, attacks on news outlet Rappler, recurring threats against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and the arrest of Sister Patricia Fox, an Australian lay misisonary who has been living in the Philippines and working with farmers' groups for nearly three decades.

The nuns likewise expressed opposition to the proposed charter change through Constituent Assembly, “especially of provisions that would repeal the protection of our patrimony.”

“We unite with all freedom loving citizens in standing up to oppose these threats to democracy and the erosion of our moral fabric,” they said.

In 2016, the Benedictine sister called on the Duterte administration to investigate the drug war killings.

SSC students also protested the spate of extrajudicial killings and the hero’s burial for late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. One of its students, Shibby de Guzman, was recognized as one of the “30 Most Influential Teens of 2017.”

READ: Filipina criticized for joining anti-Duterte rally among Time's most influential teens

The protests earned the school and its students the ire of Duterte supporters, inlcuding Presidential Assistant Secretary Margaux "Mocha" Uson, who alleged that the students had been forced to participate.

De Guzman, a teenager, was also the target of online harassment for her stand.