Prayer vigil held for Caloocan bishop’s safety

MANILA, Philippines — The Diocese of Caloocan offered its First Friday Mass for the safety of Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who said he has received death threats since President Duterte ramped up his attacks on the clergy.

The Friday night mass at the San Roque Parish was officiated by Fathers Jay de Leon, Jerome Cruz and Philip Garcia and attended by hundreds of nuns and churchgoers as they offered prayers for the safety of David and all members of the clergy.

The mass was held on the eve of David’s 60th birthday yesterday. The bishop usually spends his birthday with a feeding program for street children.

David has been on leave for a retreat since he revealed the threats to his life, according to his office at the San Roque Parish in Caloocan.

The outspoken bishop revealed the threats to his life when he skipped Tuesday’s Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Awards, wherein he is a recipient, at De La Salle University.

Caloocan police chief Col. Restituto Arcangel said he is willing to secure the bishop amid the threats but David refused the offer, calling it “ironic” that the police would protect him when they are acting on the orders of President Duterte.

The bishop, critical of the drug war killings in Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas, was accused of being into drugs and stealing donation funds by no less than Duterte, who had called on drug addicts to rob and kill bishops.

David, also the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines vice president, denied the accusation of the President, whom he called “sick” man who needed prayers. 

Duterte later changed his tune and said he would not allow bishops to be harmed after being informed by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of death threats against prelates.

But his spokesperson Salvador Panelo said David may only be “fabricating” the threats to his life.