THOMASIAN Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Soriano Iñiguez, Jr. denounced the government’s anti-insurgency campaign that had caused at least 87 deaths of unarmed civilians in Negros Oriental.
“[S]ila’y [pinarusahan] sa paraan na ‘di makatarungan. Tunay ngang isang napakalungkot na pangyayari na ngayon ay nasasaksihan natin ang mga… extrajudicial killing,” Iñiguez said in his homily during the solidarity Mass for the “National Day of Mourning” on Aug. 20 at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Santa Cruz, Manila.
(They are punished very unfairly. It is truly saddening that we have to witness these extrajudicial killings.)
Iñiguez, bishop emeritus of Caloocan, also urged Catholics to unite with the oppressed people amid the Negros bloodbath and pray for a more “concerned” government.
“Sa panahon ngayon, may iilang mga namumuno sa bansa na ang layunin ay malayong-malayo sa makatarungan at mabuting kalagayan ng kanilang pinaglilingkuran. Nawa sila ay magabayan ng mga batas na itinakda at umiiral ngayon upang ang katarungan ay siyang mamayani,” he said.
(Today, there are some leaders in the country whose purpose is far from what is fair and good for their community. May they be guided by the laws so justice will prevail.)
Minnie Ann Calub, acting general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, called on Filipinos to restore the dignity of life and fight for human rights and democracy.
“Hindi hiwalay ang panawagan ng simbahan sa panawagan ng sambayanan. [I]tigil na ang pamamaslang,” said Calub.
(Stop the killings. We are invited to a universal call for unity to address the grievances of our people. The Church’s call is not different from the call of the people.)
The “Defend Negros #StopTheAttacks Network” has reported at least 87 killings of unarmed civilians in Negros Oriental since the government expanded its anti-insurgency campaign in 2017.
Police and military officials blamed attacks on the communist New People’s Army but the rebels pointed to alleged “death squads,” comprised of soldiers and policemen, as behind the killings.
A march for an end to killings and to demand justice for people’s rights by various religious groups, human rights advocates, and families of the victims of Negros killings followed the Mass.
