THE vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) rallied the faithful on Thursday to become shepherds of their community to guard against extrajudicial killings (EJK).
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David made the appeal during his homily at the second day of the fifth Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE).
On Wednesday David said he got a text message that 27-year-old Jennifer Taburada, one of the widows of the extrajudicial killings in his diocese in Caloocan, was shot dead by masked gunmen.
He lamented the growing indifference in local communities, where people tolerate such killings.
“Believe it or not I already hear whispering—‘maybe she is into drugs, that is why she is killed.’ It is like it is justified. That deadens the consciousness and the conscience, as well,” David said.
Taburada was the wife of Ryan Taburada, who was also murdered by death squads last year amid the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
The gunmen then proceeded to a nearby block and killed 36-year- old Alvin Teng. David expressed his frustration at how the police were not able to immediately respond to the incident.
“The killers were not even rushing. They took their sweet time. They moved to another street, just a few blocks away and killed another one,” David said.
“If the police wanted to pursue them, they could have, because they stayed for four hours,” he added.
Becoming shepherds
David admonished himself for being a “bad shepherd” for failing to protect another member of his “flock.”
“The wolves have been prowling the streets and alleys of Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas. They have killed hundreds already, and I am unable to protect them with my life,” David said.
The incident, David said, made him realize how each member of the community should become like Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, to guard the community against those who will harm it.
He said each member of the community should be ready to offer themselves for others like Jesus.
“Never shepherd your flock alone. It is only by uniting yourself with your flock that you can grow together into the church,” David said.
He said they should be led no less by their parish priests, who should not shrug from the duty of safeguarding their “flock.”
“The priesthood is not for cowards; it is not for the fainthearted,” David said.
“One of the tasks of the Church is to build communities. And if we are a community, the pain of one member becomes the pain of all others,” he added.
Appeal for aid
Before ending his homily, David appealed to the PCNE participants to offer financial assistance to Taburada’s two orphaned children through the offertory.
The over P300,000 collected from the offertory will be turned over to the Birhen ng Lourdes Parish, which has jurisdiction over Taburada’s family.