MikeLigalig.com

Cardinal Tagle’s statement on drug-related killings

Posted by CBCP News
Aug 20, 2017
     
A letter from His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will be read in all masses (August 20) after communion.

(English Version)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Archdiocese of Manila,

On August 12-17, 2017, I participated in the meeting of Caritas Latin America held in El Salvador, a country where many people had been killed in a civil war. Until now it still contends with armed groups. In El Salvador, I heard news of the increase of killings in our own country due to an intensified war against illegal drugs. I am inviting you to reflect, pray and act.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

Secondly, to understand the situation better, we need not only statistics but also human stories. Families with members who have been destroyed by illegal drugs must tell their stories. Families with members who have been killed in the drug-war, especially the innocent ones, must be allowed to tell their stories. Drug addicts who have recovered must tell their stories of hope. Let their stories be told, let their human faces be revealed. We knock on the consciences of those manufacturing and selling illegal drugs to stop this activity. We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives. Recall the words of God to Cain who killed his brother Abel, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil” (Genesis 4:10). Those with sorrowful hearts and awakened consciences may come to your pastors to tell your stories and we will document them for the wider society. I call on all the parishes in the Archdiocese of Manila to mark the nine days from August 21 (Memorial of St. Pope Pius X) to August 29 (Beheading of St. John the Baptist) as time to offer prayers at all masses for the repose of those who have died in this war, for the strength of their families, for the perseverance of those recovering from addiction and the conversion of killers.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

Jomari only one name given), a neighbor and friend of slain Kian Loyd Delos Santos, refuses to leave the wake of his friend Friday, Aug. 18, 2017 in Caloocan city north of Manila, Philippines. Kian Loyd, a 17-year-old Grade 11 student, was killed on Wednesday allegedly in a shootout with police. The killing of Kian has sparked protests and condemnation from concerned citizens.

Philippine churches to ring bells to protest drug killings

BY JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press
AUGUST 20, 2017

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

A Philippine Catholic leader said Sunday that church bells would be rung every night for three months across his northern district to raise alarm over a sharp spike in police killings of drug suspects, adding to a growing outcry over President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody crackdown.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas said church bells would toll for 15 minutes nightly across his religious district from Tuesday to Nov. 27 to rouse a citizenry "which has become a coward in expressing anger against evil." The start and end of the protest mark days of Catholic veneration.

The move comes after more than 80 drug and crime suspects were gunned down by police in metropolitan Manila and nearby Bulacan province in just three days last week, the bloodiest few days since Duterte's crackdown started in July last year.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

In a separate statement read in Manila churches, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle offered to host a dialogue on the drug problem among government and police officials, along with families of victims, nongovernment groups and medical experts.

Anger and protests have focused on last week's shooting death of a teenager, Kian Lloyd delos Santos, who police say was a drug dealer who opened fire with a pistol during a raid, prompting law enforcers to shoot him. The family of the slain 17-year-old student, however, says he was mercilessly shot by police as he was pleading for his life.

Police said the student attempted to escape during a raid that sparked a chase Wednesday night in suburban Caloocan city in Manila metropolis. The student's grieving parents and some neighbors denied the police claim, pointing to security camera footage that showed a man, who they said was delos Santos, being held by both arms and dragged away from his home shortly before he was shot nearby.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

"Legitimate police operations are OK, but summary executions have no place in our society because they're barbaric acts," Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito told DZBB Radio. "They should not go overboard."

More than 3,200 drug suspects have been gunned down by police since Duterte launched his crackdown. More than 2,000 others have died in drug-related killings, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen, who human rights groups allege are policemen in disguise or their civilian hit men.

Alarmed human rights groups have reported higher death tolls.

Duterte has acknowledged he erred in his initial estimate — and campaign promise — to end the drug menace in three to six months and added that it would be difficult to have the problem under control during his six-year term. The crackdown, however, will not stop under his watch, he said.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

OFW NEWSFEED: SAGUISAG: I WON’T BE SURPRISED IF ‘HR ADDICTS’ LIKE ME TO ALSO BECOME AMONG ‘TOKHANG’ VICTIMS | NEWS5

August 18, 2017



MANILA, Philippines – With the Duterte administration’s intensifying anti-narcotics campaign that resulted in the latest spike of deaths in Bulacan and Metro Manila, former senator Rene Saguisag said he would no longer be surprised if “human rights addicts” like him would also become among the fatalities.

“Aba, kaming human rights addicts ay padadala na sa promise land. That may be very imprudent for the President na kina-characterize kami na dangerous folks dahil kami ay human rights addicts,” said Saguisag on Friday, August 18.

[We, human rights addicts, will be sent to the promised land. That is very imprudent for the President to characterize us as bad people because we are human rights addicts.]

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0

“Sabihin mo, ‘Pulis, barilin mo na ‘yang kasali diyan‘ [Tell them, ‘Police, shoot those who are part of it’] If they’re obstructing justice, you shoot them,” said the chief executive.

“Para makita talaga kung anong klaseng human rights [So they can really see the kind of human rights],” added Duterte.

The President said human rights groups only condemn his war against drugs but not crime perpetrators.

“Where was the human rights? They could not even utter it in public. ‘Look, do not do that to me,’… Nothing. Then when it comes to criminals, you will proclaim, ‘human rights violations,’” he said.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87277.0