The head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is in a state of deep shock and grief amid the unabated extrajudicial killings in his country.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas lashed out against President Rodrigo Duterte's relentless war on drugs in a statement read in all churches in his archdiocese on Sunday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports. More than 600 Filipinos have died since Duterte launched his anti-drug campaign right at the start of his term on June 30,
Villegas' statement marks the first time a high-ranking Catholic Church official spoke out about the rash of daily killings of alleged drug and other crime suspects, either by the police or alleged members of vigilante groups.
The archbishop appealed to the Filipinos' sense of humanity.
"There is a little voice of humanity in us that I believe is disturbed by the killings; but that voice of disturbed humanity is drowned out by the louder voice of revenge or silenced by the sweet privileges of political clout," he said.
Villegas said every human being is a brother or sister to him.
"For the killer and the killed I grieve. We become less human when we kill our brethren," he said.
The prelate said he is overcome with grief at the thought that people "do not mind killing criminals in the belief that their murders will lessen evil in the world."
"I am a human being. That is all it takes for me to stand up and say, 'Enough.' The humanity in me is hurting each time a fellow human is hurt. [Part] of my humanity dies when a fellow human dies," he said.
Villegas pointed out that he does not have to be a bishop or a Catholic to be appalled by the daily news about the killings.
"Lay aside the bishop's robes and the CBCP position. I am only a human being. My humanity is in grief. I am in utter disbelief. If this is just a nightmare, wake me up and assure me it is not true. This is too much to swallow," he said.
Villegas lamented that only a few Filipinos seem to be disturbed by the killings, wondering if the Philippines is becoming a "killing fields nation" in its zealousness to stamp out illegal drugs.
He said he, too, wants to see drug-free Philippines but questioned whether killing crime suspects without due process was "a morally acceptable way to eradicate crime."
"From a generation of drug addicts, shall we become a generation of street murderers? [Can] the do-it-yourself justice system assure us of a safer and better future?" he asked.
"Is not humanity going down to the dregs when bloodthirsty humans encourage the killers and ask for more blood? When tears are replaced by wide smiles each time a human is killed, I shake my head and ask, 'What has happened to humanity?" Can we still cry with those who cry?'" Villegas said.
"In this valley of death, I grieve. In the life after, I will rejoice. Barbarism will not have the last laugh. Reason will prevail. Humanity will win in the end," he said.
