NGO network condemns killings, attacks on Church

MANILA, Philippines —  A social development and advocacy network supported by German Catholics on Monday expressed outrage over the spate of killings under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying the chief executive’s pronouncements disregarding the rule of law and attacks against the Church feed the culture of violence in the country.

In a statement, the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. stressed that the government and all involved instrumentalities must be held accountable for these rights violations.

“We condemn in the strongest sense all forms of killings being perpetuated under this government, its disregard for the rule of law and due process and lack of respect to life,” PMPI said.

The network is composed of more than 250 church/faith-based groups, non-governmental organizations and people's organizations in the Philippines.

The group, which has ties with Misereor or the German Catholic Bishops' Organization for Development Cooperation, also criticized the country’s elected leaders, accusing them of being “party to these crimes against the Filipino people.”

“Their public endorsement or lack of action and silence condone this reprehensible situation,” it said.

According to the latest government data, 4,279 alleged drug dealers and users have died in operations since the government intensified its crackdown on illegal drugs in 2016. Police have also recorded 22,983 "deaths under inquiry" since Duterte took office. 

Murders of priests

PMPI issued its statement a week after the killing of Father Richmond Nilo, the parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. He was the third clergyman killed in the last six months.

“Never in recent history that we have a president that attacks the tenet of our religious beliefs in [his] bid to silence the church from speaking out the truth in favor of those whose rights are violated by this government,” the group said.

Malacañang, however, maintained that the president’s tirades against the Church have nothing to do with the violence against the men of the cloth and claimed that the series of killings of priests was an attempt by “lawless elements” to discredit the administration’s strides in the peace and order situation in the country.

The government has similarly said alleged extrajudicial killings are part of a conspiracy to discredit the Duterte administration.

Vitaliano Aguirre II, who, while Justice secretary, often claimed the existence of these conspiracies, left office without substantiating his claims.

READ: Palace vows to bring killers of priests to justice

Heartless, lacks conscience

The current government is “seemingly heartless” and “lacking in conscience,” PMPI stressed.

“It is intolerant of critique and silences dissent to achieve what it randomly wants and according to the president’s will at the moment. It has targeted persons and all democratic institutions that represent the voice of opposition and one that demands for justice and denounces violence committed to the most helpless sector of society,” the group said.

It also accused the government of being “ruthlessly blind and deaf” to the needs of the people, citing the impact of the tax reform law on the poor, the lack of protection for the fisher folks in the Scarborough Shoal and its soft stance on the West Philippine Sea dispute.