Catholic Church in the Philippines

Newsbreak chats: Anti-tambay campaign, Duterte vs. the church, and other top stories in June 2018

The rising number of homicide cases under Duterte, the new crackdown on ‘tambays’, Duterte’s threats
vs the Catholic Church, stories of survivors of sexual violence against children, and the president’s
second year in office.

Duterte forms committee to dialogue with Catholic Church

June 26,2018 – 12:09 pm

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, Foreign Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, and Pastor “Boy” Saycon
are tasked to hold talks with religious groups to ‘lessen the rift between the government and church’.

MISSION. (left-right) Foreign Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, Presidential Sokesman Harry Roque, and
Pastor Boy Saycon will meet with Church leaders over President Rodrigo Duterte tirades against God and
the Catholic Church

OPINYON. Tungkol kay Adan, Eba at pananampalatayang Katoliko

June 26, 2018 – 7:30 am

Iginagalang ng mga Katoliko ang tungkulin ng pangulo, at ang mandato niya bilang Pangulo. Sana igalang
di niya ang mga katoliko kahit hindi siya sumang-ayon sa doktrina ng katoliko.

Duterte photo courtesy of Malacanang Bishops hit Duterte for calling God stupid

June 25, 2018- 10:44 pm

‘Paano siya magiging pangulo para sa lahat ng Pilipino kung wala siyang paggalang sa mga
mananampalatayang katoliko?’ says Bishop Virgilio David.

CRITICIZING DUTERTE. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and Caloocan Bishop Pablo
Virgilio David. Issue statements criticizing Duterte for calling God stupid.Duterte says no fight with
priests: ‘I respect the Church’

June 20,2018- 8:55 pm

Yet Duterte has described the Catholic Church as ‘full of shit’ and has continued verbal attacks against it
amid the recent killings of priests.
Manila: The Philippine government will continue with its plan to make the death penalty part of it’s
punitive recourse, despite Pope Francis’ declaration that capital punishment is”unacceptable” in all
cases, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. “It is still the priority of the administration to re-
impose the death penalty for serious drug-related offences”, Roque said in press briefing in Malaybalay,
Bukidnon on Friday.

However, Roque added, the decision on re-imposing the capital punishment remains with the Senate
and House on whether it will recall a 1993 law that provides for such penal option.

The Philippines has had an on and off penchant with the death penalty. The country carried out judicial
executions during the 1970’s when the entire archipelago was under martial law and crime was a
serious concern.

The 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty but it was reintroduced in 1993 and the first person
to be meted the punishment in 1998 was Leo Echegaray who was found guilty of raping his 10 year-old
step daughter. In 2006, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo enacted a law: Republic Act Number
9346 that abolished the death penalty. Arroyo at that time was concerned that having death penalty as
part of the country’s judicial recourse would weaken the country’s position in asking for clemency for
overseas Filipino workers who are on death row abroad.

State vs Church

President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants the death penalty reimposed to serve as a deterrent against
drug crimes. In March 2017, the Lower Chamber passed House Bill 4727 which seeks to reimpose death
penalty. The fate of a similar measure in Senate is unknown. Last Thursday , Pope Francis declared death
penalty “inadmissible” under all circumstances. The Church approved the revision opposing capital
punishment as it attacks the dignity of human beings and the sanctity of human life. Among the reasons
for changing the teaching include: the increasing effectiveness of detention systems, growing
understanding of the unchanging dignity of the person, and leaving open the possibility of conversion to
the individual. “Today, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even
after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the
significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have
been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively
deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption, “the new Catechism says, Jacqueline De Guia,
spokesperson of Philippines’ independent Commission on Human Rights, hopes the Senate will heed
Pope Francis’ declaration on the death penalty”.
August 27, 2016, President Duterte greets Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles while attending a 50th
wedding anniversary rite St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Davao city.

Duterte: Religious leaders should be neutral because of separation of church and state.

July 8, 2018 – 2:35pm

MANILA-Philippines - Duterte has cited the principle of separation of church and state to hit back at
members of the clergy critical of his policies.

Duterte, who has drawn flak for his bloody war on illegal drugs and his provocative remarks on God,
Claimed the religious sector should be “neutral” when it comes to government because of the principle.

“When you criticize me, criticize me with all the heart’s content. Do it, I’m even asking you to do it so I
will know whether you are displeased or not with my performance. Do it,” the president, who has
consistently hit back at actual and perceived criticism, said during the inauguration of Malayan Colleges
in Davao City last Saturday.

“But when you are a religios, you have to be something of a neutral when it comes to your faith and
even when it comes to government because it is really the concept of a republican system that there is a
separation of church and state” he added.

Separation of Church and State.

The separation of church and state, which is enshrined in the constitution, prohibits the establishment
of a national religion and state interference in the free exercise of the religious beliefs of its citizens.

Some Catholic priests and lawyers have said the Church has the obligation to speak against social ills
because governance has moral dimensions. The 1987 Constitution also recognized the spiritual
dimension of citizens when it stated that educational institutions shall “teach the rights and duties of
citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline.”

Duterte has been at odds with the Roman Catholic Church, the religious group of more than 80% of
Filipinos, because of his crackdown on illegal drugs and his promotion of artificial birth control methods.
Catholic bishops and human rights groups have been expressing concern over the anti-drug war, which
has left more than 4000 “drug personalities” dead in operations. The Church also teaches that the
natural purpose of sex is procreation and contraceptives and other artificial birth control methods
violate the natural law.

Duterte’s rift with the Church widened last month when he called God “stupid” for allowing temptation
to tarnish his creation. The president, nominally a Roman Catholic, claimed later on that he was reacting
to Sister Patricia Fox, an Australian nun facing possible deportation for allegedly joining partisan
activities. He did not mention Fox at all in his speech.

Officials have explained that the president’s angst by citing the sexual abuse he allegedly experienced at
the hands of an American priest when he was in high school.
Duterte to Church: Why collect money from believers?

Duterte vowed to keep quiet on his tiff with the Church two weeks ago but continued, nevertheless, to
question the practives of the religious group.

“If you pity the poor, if you really want to help, why do you keep on collecting money? It (collection
basket) is passed around three times,” the president said.

Contrary to Duterte’s claim, the collection basket is passed around only two times during masses. Unlike
other religious sects that require believers to donate a specific percentage of their earnings, no one is
forced to donate money to the Catholic Church.

The president insisted that he has “deep and abiding faith in God” but maintained that his concept of
Universal being is based on his “values” and the “lessons” he learned in life. He also dared Catholics to
prove that their God exists.

“But if there is somebody of the so many billions, maybe if he can go there in heaven, talk to God, and
take a selfie with Him, come back here, the priest can tell ‘There is God’. I will step down tomorrow. No
question,” Duterte said. – Alexis Romero

Philippine Catholic priests: ‘They are killing us’ Three Catholic priests killed, one severely injured, in
separate attacks in the country since December.

June 13,2018

Nilo was preparing for a church service on Sunday when he was killed by unidentified gunmen (Ezra
Acayan/Al Jazeera). The killings of three Catholic priests since December have raised alarm in the
Philippines, with the church and political leaders condemning the continued “culture of impunity” in the
country.

“We shuld be alarmed,” Fr Jerome Secillano, a spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the PH
(CBCP) said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

“Killing is a form of violence. We do not want violence to permeate in our society. We want a violence-
free society. We want our citizens to be freely roaming around, with a sense of security and safety.”

Richmond nilo was the latest member of the Catholic clergy to be killed by unidentified gunmen on
Sunday, as he was preparing for a service in the northern province of Nueva Ecija.

While he does not see any pattern of Catholic priests being targeted, Secillano said the continued
”culture of impunity” paved the way for the killing of Nilo and other priests.
“The Church has been telling (authorities) in the past that we should put a stop to the killings. The
killings should not have a place in our society, even if th ones being killed are considered 9by the
government) as the ‘scumbags’ in our society,” he said.

Catholic leaders in the district where Nilo served as a priest also issued a strongly-worded statement
against the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has left thousands of
people dead.

“Are you still saying this is the best government we ever had? They are killing our flock. They are killing
us, the shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our Church,” the letter, signed by
Archbishop Socrates Villegas and other senior Church leaders, read.

Villegas also urged Duterte “to stop verbal persecution” against the Catholic Church,”because such
attacks can unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests”.

‘We don’t hate him’

In December 2017, a 72 year-old priest was shot in Nueva Ecija, just hours after facilitating the release of
a political prisoner . In April, a 37 year-old priest, who advocated for ethnic minorities and against
mining, was killed in the northern province of Cagayan.

A four priest, who had served as chaplain for the PH police, survived an assassination attempt outside of
the capital Manila earlier this month.

On Wednesday, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a resolution calling for an investigation into the
killings, to bring “accountability and justice” to the attackers and stop the killings, not only of Catholic
clergy members but also civilians.

“It’s a question that is bothering people’s minds. Are priests also being targeted now? Are these attacks
borne out of President Duterte’s repeated verbal attacks against the church?” Hontiveros said in public
forum.

Hontiveros said the president has a “habit” of lashing out at his critics, including the catholic Church,
which had been outspoken in opposing the deadly war on drugs.

In the past,Duterte, who is Catholic, said that the Catholic church in th PH had no moral authority to
criticize him, chastising the sexual abuse allegedly committed by priests. He had also cursed at Pope
Francis during the 2016 presidential campaign.

According to another opposition senator, Antonio Trillanes, the death toll in the government’s war on
drugs has already surpassed 20000 since Duterte came to office in 2016.

The government, however, disputed that number, saying the death toll is much lower. According to the
latest police report, 4000 people were killed between the launch of the campaign on July 1, 2016 and
March 20, 2018.
Secillano said that what Duterte should understand is that the Church is not against the president.

“Maybe the president thinks that the Church hates him. We don’t hate him. What we don’t actually like
are some of the policies in the government”.

“We want to treat rug addiction as a health issue. Our government is treating drug addicts as criminals.
One by one, these addicts are being killed. They are out in the streets being shot to death”