Nov. 25 2016, 10:08 a.m. – RELIGIOUS advocates stressed the vital role that the youth can play in ending the rising death toll linked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
On the National Day of Prayer intended for summary execution victims, Network Against Killings in the Philippines Director Lily Flordelis urged the youth to be socially involved and use their voices to end the cases of drug-related extrajudicial killings.
“There’s a very strong role for the youth and we should give them space and avenues for involvement and inform them properly because they are vital in ending the impunity of the war against drugs,” Flordelis said last Nov. 23 at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help or the Baclaran Church.
“Experiential learning is also important. That will help a lot in appreciation of the victims, it humanizes the face of poverty that is the very source of the drug problem here in the Philippines,” Flordelis said.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo warned the youth that they would be the next generation of victims if the culture of impunity persists.
“If they ignore the culture of impunity that is present in their lives today, they or their loved ones and friends will be collateral in the impunity of the continuous war against drugs,” Pabillo told the Varsitarian in an interview.
Fr. Atiliano Fajardo, director of Public Affairs Ministry of the Archdiocese of Manila, urged the youth to continue critical conversations about extrajudicial killings in light of the gospels.
“The youth should continue doing group reflection. They have to be critical in the light of the gospel,” Fajardo said. Neil Jayson N. Servallos
