Brothers and sisters, President Duterte has once again shifted his constraint toward some leaders of the Catholic Church of the Philippines this week, after Diocese of Caloocan Bishop Ambo David announced that he, along with other priests, received death threats. According to the president, his anger toward the bishops is a personal matter, which is why anyone should neither give threats nor even harm these priests because they have nothing to do with politics.
We remember in a December 2018 statement from Malacañang, Duterte urged people to kill bishops. His exact words: “Itong mga obispo ninyo, patayin ninyo. Walang silbi ’yang mga ’yan. All they do is criticize [These bishops of yours you must kill. They are worthless. All they do is criticize].” We removed all the swearing and cursing from his statement. Is this still not a clear sign of threat to the lives of the bishops? It is already late for President Duterte to explain that his threats and negative comments toward some of our pastors—if we can even call it an explanation.
As expected, his spokesperson tried to shield him. The president’s statement against the bishops shouldn’t be related to the threats received by Bishop Ambo and other priests. Much like his past controversial statements, they were only exaggerations that must not be taken seriously. The opposition aims to make matters worse even if the public is already aware of the president’s style in speaking. What do you think, brothers and sisters?
For those who still believe in the importance of reason, and give importance to proper discussions regarding issues, no explanation is enough for the threats to the lives of Church-people or anyone else, for that matter. Whether it is a joke, words coming from those given duties to serve the nation—like the President—are considered part of the rules of the government. (As a matter of fact, bending the law through the use of killing of alleged criminals is clearly the intention of the current administration, which is why the threats to the bishops and priests are not surprising. But these must not go unnoticed.)
Words bear weight, especially if these words come from people like our leader. It is right that we hope from them to utter the words to unite us, not words that cause our division, pushing the people to hate one another, or influence others to kill other people.
Like what Pope Francis said in 2016, words serve as a bridge of understanding toward everyone, families, groups, races and that is why it is important for us to be careful in what we say. Our words—as well as our actions—must help us break through the chords of impulsive judgment and the vengeance that enslaves the people of the nation. It seems difficult in our current situation.
Brothers and sisters, we are concerned of what is happening in our Church, not because the accusations thrown right and left against our pastors are true but because of the effects of the words irresponsibly said by our leaders. The death threats are worrisome, particularly because some priests were already murdered under the current administration. It is also saddening if there are those who support our pastors without fear in uncovering the truth forcibly hidden by those in power, there are those who choose to be silent in front of the obvious abuse of rights and freedom of the people. Much more disheartening is the fact that there are fellowmen who cheer when lies and destructive comments were given by their idol. In spite of this, like the assurance of Bishop Ambo, our pastors in the Church continue to guide our fellowmen.
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