We, the Redemptorists of the Philippines composed of the vice-province of Manila and province of Cebu, express our outrage over the recent spate of killings in line with the government’s war on drugs. As missionaries dedicated to serving the poor and the abandoned, we condemn the war on drugs as a war on the poor. Most of the victims of extrajudicial killings are poor people. The police have become more relentless as President Duterte himself had on many occasions incited the police to carry out a murderous war on the poor.
On the other hand, rich drug lords and coddlers of drug suppliers are given full extent of due process; 6.4 billion-worth of shabu freely entered the country due to connections of rich drug lords to politicians and Customs officials. In all of these, there was no howl from the President and other high-ranking government officials.
As Christians, we are appalled by the utter loss of respect for the dignity of life and human rights of the police operations. We are utterly distressed that in a Christian country like ours, the killings are tolerated, even supported. We dread the reality that a split-level kind of faith exists among our people. Such faith sees no connection between the gospel values and the wellspring of Christian faith, and the suffering and killing of the people.
As Filipinos we are gravely concerned with the kind of society we have become. What kind of people have we become? After more than a year of the war on drugs, our country has turned into a big killing field. Death is the order of the day.
A culture of killing with impunity is the new normal. On the other hand, a culture of silence and a climate of fear prevail. In the midst of the daily killings, many people go on with their lives, show no empathy to the victims and accept the government’s war on drugs as a necessary evil.
Condemning the war on drugs does not undermine our stance against drugs. Even before the Duterte administration, we have denounced the menace of drug addiction in our proclamations and programs. We did not just denounce, however; we also organized programs and services for victims of drugs like counseling, livelihood projects and community support mechanisms.
We call on the government to respect the law and uphold life. We call on the government to stop the killings.
The “war on drugs” which in reality is a war on the poor has to end. Now!
We call on the Church to defend the sanctity of life during these dangerous times. We call on all people of goodwill to assist the poor victims of the drug war and participate in building programs to counteract the evil effects of drug addiction.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us that the spate of killings in our country may come to an end!
FR. ARIEL LUBI, CSsR,
vice-provincial superior,
Redemptorist Vice-Province of Manila, FR. NICO PEREZ, CSsR, provincial superior, Redemptorist
Province of Cebu