‘Walk for Life’ is the gathering that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) organized seemingly to protest the government’s war on drugs, “EJK,” and the death penalty. However, if this is a walk for life, shouldn’t all life matter? Why are drug-related killings being singled out? Here’s the message of Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas encouraging everyone to join the ‘Walk for Life’ on February 18:
“Is it God’s will that blood be shed on our streets? Is it God’s will that the dead bodies of our brothers and sisters be found in our sidewalks? Is it God’s will that mothers kill infants in their wombs?
It is not God’s will. Our streets must be safe, should be secure.
Let us walk for life, fill our streets not with blood, not with dead bodies. But with prayer, courage to walk, to stand up for life.”
Of course, drug-related killings are not God’s will but surely, it’s also not His will to let criminals take the life of innocents or the life of police officers who are merely doing their job. The point here is that CBCP must determine clearly which deaths or killings they intend to go against in the event. Are they just protesting deaths outside police operations or are they also including killings that happened in police operations? If they are including deaths during police operations, then are they also implying that the police must not defend themselves when their life is in danger, when criminals choose to fight back instead of surrender? Or have they already made the conclusion that the police are intentionally killing criminals and that the government is just resorting to killing to stop the drug problem even without proof or evidence to back up the claims that the killings are state-sponsored? The CBCP may be fighting for life, but it seems that this fight is based on a faulty conclusion and is selective.
If this is truly a stand for the life of every Filipino, the walk for life must also be against criminals killing innocents; robbers killing their prey if they don’t surrender their valuables; and drug addicts raping and killing children.
The CBCP and other politicians have cited the growing number of drug-related deaths to justify why they should speak loudly against it and encourages the public to speak against it as well. They have questioned why the public seems to have grown numb to the killings happening around them.
Using data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s website, it shows that in 2012 there were 8,484 cases of murder and 3,022 homicide; in 2013, there were 9,072 murder cases and 6,409 homicide; and in 2014, there were 9,945 cases of murder and 5,520 cases of homicide. This data shows that thousands of Filipinos were being killed every year long before President Duterte came into power.
Where was CBCP back then? Where was the noise against those killings? Where was the message to unite against the thousands of deaths during those times? Why was CBCP not expressive before in speaking against the killings as they are right now?
The church can always preach that there is no justification for killing a person, but after years of cowering in fear of criminals that lurk night and day; after years of hearing and seeing news about a criminal killing an innocent victim, the public cannot entirely be blamed for not shedding a tear for the deaths of criminals.
The church can speak against the war on drugs but they must not attribute the killings they tag as “EJK” to the government’s effort to eliminate drugs. Killings outside police operations are not part of the government’s war on drugs and if they claim otherwise, they must present their evidence, lest they sound Senator De Lima who says that the killings are state-sponsored but does not have the evidence to back up her claim.
Lastly, the church can condemn the killings but it must be completely fair in doing so. If the true goal is to stand up against killings, then stand up against all killings. The church must be true to its belief that all life matters, and stand up as well against criminals who victimize the innocents.
Don’t let the public think that you are just present when it is the lives of the criminals that are at stake. Show the public that the church is not being used to influence the people and that the church is not being used for political attacks. Do not single out the government’s war on drugs. Speak out on the Mamasapano incident that claimed the lives of the brave SAF 44; speak out against all killings happening in our country. If you can call out the government, surely you can also call out the criminals to stop their illegal activities. Show us that the church has no biases; that as much as it fights for the lives of the criminals, it also fights for the lives of the innocent population. Instead of a walk for life, I hope that the church can fight for the lives of innocent Filipinos.