{"id":17585,"date":"2016-09-15T06:40:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T06:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=17585"},"modified":"2016-09-15T06:40:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T06:40:36","slug":"philippines-bishops-call-for-justice-as-war-on-drugs-escalates-acn-malta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2016\/09\/15\/philippines-bishops-call-for-justice-as-war-on-drugs-escalates-acn-malta\/","title":{"rendered":"PHILIPPINES -Bishops call for justice as war on drugs escalates &#8211; ACN Malta"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>PHILIPPINES<\/strong> &#8211;\u00a0<strong>B<\/strong><strong>ishops call for justice<\/strong><strong> as war on drugs escalates<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Over 2000 people are reported to have been killed &#8211; 900\u00a0 by police allegedly while resisting arrest and over 1000 by vigilantes &#8211; in the last three months as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte&#8217;s merciless war against drugs.\u00a0 The President has implied impunity for law enforcement officers who kill, saying that \u2018police and soldiers will never go to prison, not on my watch\u2019. In response to the killings, the Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a pastoral appeal for an end to the violence and encouraging efforts to maintain law and order.<\/p>\n<p>A statement issued by the bishops said: \u201cWe are disturbed by an increasing number of reports of suspected drug-peddlers, pushers and others about whom reports of criminal activity have been received, who have been shot, supposedly because they resist arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although President Duterte has stated that addicts are \u201cno longer viable as human beings on this planet,\u201d the bishops emphasised the dignity of every person, saying \u201cGod never gave up on us. We have no right giving up on ourselves or on our brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bishops also urged law enforcement officials to carry out true justice, in response to \u00a0a speech aired on television by the Philippines\u2019 police chief, Ronald dela Rosa,in which he encouraged people, especially former addicts, to kill drug dealers: \u201dThey\u2019re all enjoying your money, money that destroyed your brain. You know who the drug lords are. Would you like to kill them? Go ahead. Killing them is allowed because you are the victims &#8230;. Why don\u2019t you give them a visit, pour gasoline on their homes and set these on fire to register your anger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bishops\u2019 statement offered guidelines for police to follow. First, they said that killing in self-defense is a legitimate and morally permissible action. However, they denounced killing on the grounds of suspicion, saying that \u201csuspicion is never the moral equivalent of certainty,\u201d and could not be morally justified:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet no one ever raise his hand against his brother or sister, from the blood that is shed \u2013 even if it be the blood of one we suspect of crime \u2013 cries to heaven for justice!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo kill a suspect outright, no matter how much surveillance work may have antecedently been done on the suspect, is not morally justified.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0In his election campaign speech President Duterte encouraged citizens to kill suspected drugs dealers\u00a0\u00a0 and offered large cash rewards to people who turn in drug dealers \u2013 \u2018dead or alive\u2019. The bishops also emphasised that that receiving monetary gain for killing, in the case of some vigilantes allegedly hired by police, is always wrong and should immediately stop.<\/p>\n<p>They urged citizens to report unlawful killing and vigilante activity saying<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is equally disturbing that vigilantism seems to be on the rise&#8230;.It is the moral duty of every Catholic, every Christian, in fact, to report all forms of vigilantism of which they have personal knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the bishops condemned the acts of violence committed against drug dealers in the Philippines, they highlighted their hopes that criminal activity would end and voiced their support of true justice at the hands of law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand the difficulties that law-enforcers face, the daily risk to life and limb, but not only civil society but also the Church counts on them for the flourishing of society,\u201d the bishops said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMembers of the community \u2013 Christians especially \u2013 should not be too quick to point accusing fingers at law enforcers, prosecutors and judges,\u201d they continued.<\/p>\n<p>The bishops were hopeful that harmony between citizens and government could be restored, and urged those in power to use their influential positions for good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe beg our prosecutors and judges to remain firm in their consecration to justice, for there can be no greater insult to the Creator than to use the gifts of intelligence, discernment and one\u2019s success at legal studies for ends contrary to building the Body of Christ.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>President Duterte sent out an unambiguous warning to drug dealers: &#8220;Do not destroy my country, because I will kill you.&#8221; His merciless campaign is due to the proliferation of the drug crystal meth or &#8220;shabu&#8221; as it is known in the Philippines which has affected the lives of millions. Cheap, easily made, and intensely addictive, it offers an instant escape from the filth and drudgery of life in the slums. The drugs trade is very profitable &#8211; industrial-scale labs in the Philippines produce tons of the drug which is then distributed throughout Asia. The President has listed 150 senior officials, officers and judges linked to drugs but it is those at the lowest levels of the trade who are being targeted by the death squads.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>ACN Malta<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHILIPPINES &#8211;\u00a0Bishops call for justice as war on drugs escalates &nbsp; Over 2000 people are reported to have been killed &#8211; 900\u00a0 by police allegedly while resisting arrest and over 1000 by vigilantes &#8211; in the last three months as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte&#8217;s merciless war against drugs.\u00a0 The President has implied impunity&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-newsletters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>PHILIPPINES -Bishops call for justice as war on drugs escalates - ACN Malta - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2016\/09\/15\/philippines-bishops-call-for-justice-as-war-on-drugs-escalates-acn-malta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PHILIPPINES -Bishops call for justice as war on drugs escalates - ACN Malta - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PHILIPPINES &#8211;\u00a0Bishops call for justice as war on drugs escalates &nbsp; 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