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Nuncio Hit Political Killings, Demand Justice
July 17, 2006 – The Papal Envoy to the Philippines has raised concerns about mounting violence especially on activists and journalists and urged government leaders to bring to justice all the perpetrators.
Human rights groups reported at least 700 people have been killed since President Arroyo took office in 2001.
In a forum at the University of Asia and the Pacific, Archbishop Fernando Filoni said the number of killings is alarming despite the abolition of the death penalty law.
"I am surprised to see that in the Philippines there is still an activity of high incidence of a moral and political violence against those who profess different political ideologies, like... journalists and political activists," said Archbishop Fernando Filoni.
While he hailed President Arroyo's decision to junk the capital punishment, the nuncio said it raises question on the government's intention.
"It will truly be a contradiction, if on the one hand, we practically abolished the death penalty and yet on the other hand we are not respecting or implementing the rights of the human race," he added.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also denounced the spate of killings in pastoral statement issued recently.
"We join the outcry of groups that have denounced the increasing number of extra-judicial killings of journalists and social activists suspected as sympathizers of insurgents allegedly by some ultra-rightist elements in the military," the CBCP said.
The bishops also called attention to a "great number" of similar executions that have never landed in the newspapers.
"The defense of human rights and of human dignity must itself be just. It has to be impartial, irrespective of religious belief or ideology," the bishops added.
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