‘Thou shalt not kill’

As I was reading John Nery’s “Why we must criticize Duterte” (Opinion, 12/27/16), I noticed two prominent words in his column—“redemption” and “innocents,” pointing out, respectively, the Christian belief in the possibility of redemption, and Christianity’s remembrance of Holy Innocents’ Day on  Dec. 28.

Nery goes on to say that the first casualty of President Duterte’s war on drugs may be the very notion, the value, of innocents, because his war does not distinguish between the guilty and the innocent. In the indiscriminate killings, mere suspects are killed, at times innocent victims (many of them children) caught in the crossfire.

To Nery’s column, let me add that the value of the possibility of redemption is heaven or hell. If I kill someone now and that someone is with grave sin without the chance to repent, he or she goes to hell! This, to me, is the most unkind and inhuman aspect, and why we must continue to criticize Mr. Duterte. Nery’s column coincides with what I feel is the voice of the Church starting to make waves.

On Dec. 25, Christmas Day, I attended Mass at the Immaculate Conception Church in Cubao, Quezon City. Wrapped around the church was a tarp almost as big as the building, with the message “Huwag Kang Papatay.” It knocks you out! I couldn’t believe it was there.

When I entered the church, the words and music of “Joy to the World” were reverberating with resounding joy. In his homily, Fr. Aris Sison, the parish priest, explained that the sign was not for a political purpose but to remind all that “Thou shalt not kill” is a commandment of God and a precept of the Catholic Church.

When I exited after the Mass, the sign again became visible. I thought to myself: It’s strange that inside the church was a celebration of life, while outside, the sign of death seemed to warn of the possibility that death could happen to anyone at any time, even to the innocent, because of the killings happening around us.

We cannot be mere onlookers to what is happening lest we fall into a desensitized state, where we become accustomed to the daily occurrence of killings. We have to make these killers know there are eyes watching so they don’t acquire the “Sanayan lang” insensitivity of which Ma. Ceres P. Doyo writes in her column titled thus (12/29/16), and where she presents the poem of Jesuit Fr. Albert Alejo. The poem suggests that one gets used to anything done in a regular frequency, even the killing of people.

It’s heartwarming to know that bishops, priests, nuns and the millennials are now speaking out, much like during the evil regime of the “thief in the night,” of whose ouster the Church was one indignant mover.  Together with them, Nery, and many others, we can continue to criticize Mr. Duterte.

REYNALDO L. PEREZ, renaldo_per@yahoo.com