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CBCP Monitor Vol21 n20
CBCP Monitor Vol21 n20
CBCP Monitor Vol21 n20
Monitor
CBCP
Church to give
asylum to cops
testifying in drug
war killings
By Roy Lagarde the Church will not induce the
policemen to speak or make any
allegations if they wish to testify
A Catholic archbishop in any investigations.
said some police If their preference is to stay
involved in the with us in the Church, they will
governments bloody not be turned over to the State
crackdown against under its own witness protection
program, according to Villegas.
illegal drugs sought In the areas of pastoral
church protection. counseling and values formation,
Archbishop Socrates Villegas the Archdiocese of Lingayen
of Lingayen-Dagupan did not Dagupan will be the loving
identify them but said the cops teacher and mother of our law
want to reveal information about enforcers. Let us be guardian
the wave of extrajudicial killings angels for one another, he
in the country. added.
They have expressed their
desire to come out in the open Feelers
about their participation in The countrys military bishop
extrajudicial killings and is reaching out to policemen
summary executions. Their wanting to reveal information
consciences are troubling them, about the supposed summary
Villegas said in a statement killings under the governments
issued on October 2. crackdown against illegal drugs.
He said the archdiocese Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Oscar
through its ministry of mercy Jaime Florencio, the concurrent
is willing to provide sanctuary to Apostolic Administrator of the
the cops, including their families Military Ordinariate of the
if necessary, provided they tell Philippines (MOP), said that
the truth. he wants to help assess the
With the help of independent testimonies of the cops.
volunteer lawyers, he said, we First, I also want to know
will look prudently into the their motives, then to help
sincerity of their motives and the them deepen their confession,
veracity of their stories. the sacramental confession,
The archbishop assured that Asylum / A7 Church people walk towards Rizal Park in Manila for End Tyranny rally to mark the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, September 21, 2017. The demonstrators also called on the Duterte administration to put an end to the string of extrajudicial killings;
counted now by the thousands and publicly perceived to be associated with the governments relentless drive against illegal drugs. ROY LAGARDE
Priest urges Muslim religious PH Church opens doors to refugees Soldiers attend Mass inside the damaged St. Marys Cathedral in Marawi City, October
leaders to confront extremism 1, 2017. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOINT TASK FORCE RANAO