PRESS RELEASE                                                                                            April 3, 2007

GMA, military emboldened by Cardinal Rosales' views on political killings

As GMA congratulated the military for 'job well done,' PCPR also expressed concern that the 'blessings' of a bishop my have emboldened Malacañang to ignore criticisms from church, multisectoral groups, media and international human rights groups on the issues of political killings and urban militarization.  

In a 3-page Lenten message entitled "A CALL FOR THE CHURCH LEADERS AND LAY FAITHFUL TO DEFEND LIFE AT ALL COST," PCPR noted, "Many of us were shocked and disappointed when Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales was recently quoted on his view on the wave of extra-judicial killings under Arroyo as 'mere specks of blood' compared to the number of political murders and human rights violations committed during the term of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. 

Apparently, the latest pronouncements of Cardinal Rosales effectively emboldened Arroyo to congratulate and give her go-signal for the military to continue their unwanted presence and operations in Metro communities. The military is equally emboldened to deny accountability even as they further engage in extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, warrantless arrests and other atrocities."

Reference: Fr. Jerry Sabado, OCarm – PCPR Spokesperson
                  Amie Dural – PCPR Secretary General
                  Contact: 410723 Email: pcprnatl@gmail.com
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A CALL FOR THE CHURCH LEADERS AND LAY FAITHFUL
TO DEFEND LIFE AT ALL COST
Lenten Message, April 3, 2007

Many of us were shocked and disappointed when Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales was recently quoted on his view on the wave of extra-judicial killings under Arroyo as 'mere specks of blood' compared to the number of political murders and human rights
violations committed during the term of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Apparently, the latest pronouncements of Cardinal Rosales effectively emboldened Arroyo to congratulate and give her go-signal for the military to continue their unwanted presence and operations in Metro communities. The military is equally emboldened to deny accountability even as they further engage in extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, warrantless arrests and other atrocities.

Spectators can simply watch the flow of 'mere specks of blood.' But we believe that the heart of a true Christian must be outraged at every single act of atrocity such as when a life is taken away to suppress the activist stance of a poor farmer, worker, youth, a human rights defender, and so on. This Holy Week, we enjoin the faithful to also remember and pray for justice for the victims of modern-day persecution as an integral part of remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ.

Of all people, we wonder how a pro-life advocate could reduce the lives of more than 830 victims as 'mere specks of blood.' Apparently, since no Catholic bishop or priest has yet become a victim of extra-judicial killing, Cardinal Rosales is not alarmed that in the post-Marcos regimes, the Arroyo regime has claimed the lives of church people who were deeply engaged both in their pastoral duties and social ministries. They reached out to serve and help improve the lives of our poorest brothers and sisters, how can they be mere specks of blood?

Is it morally correct to remain spectators when there is already an overflow of 'mere specks of blood?' If Cardinal Rosales has the passion for Pondong Pinoy and environmental advocacy, why not join the people's outrage at the staggering number of poor victims of extra-judicial killings under Arroyo. Not a few of the victims were environmental activists, and poor peasants and indigenous peoples affected by large-scale mining and other destructive commercial projects.

In such a predominantly Catholic nation like ours, the views as well as actions or inactions of the church leaders like Cardinal Rosales certainly weigh heavily on the millions of Filipino faithful. As proven in national events, the stand of the Cardinal or the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on various issues will either lead the faithful to decisive actions, or inactions.

So far, the CBCP under the leadership of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo has spoken on the issue, though not as strongly as the Protestant leaders belonging to the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), especially from the NCCP member churches – the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), whose clergy and lay members became victims of political killings.

We also note of course that apart from the CBCP's official statements as a body, there have been strong statements from the likes of Archbishop Oscar Cruz who called for accountability of the Arroyo government. How we wish for Cardinal Rosales to have the same stance instead of defending the perpetrators!
  
At a forum in St. Scholastica's College on March 9, 2006, Archbishop Cruz stressed that human dignity, human rights and human life are inter-related. When a person's dignity and rights are violated, the essence of life is violated; and the moment a person's life is violated as in the cases of extra-judicial killings, human dignity and human rights are totally disregarded. Archbishop Cruz strongly criticized the Arroyo government on the issue of political killings, noting the case of one of the victims, Bishop Alberto
Ramento – whom he described as his poor friend whose sando always had holes. After expressing his disbelief that the activist bishop was killed by plain thieves, he went on to denounce the government's efforts to deny its hand on the killings of hundreds of administration critics. And since no Catholic bishop or priest has yet become a victim of extra-judicial killing, he also managed to joke, 'I volunteer to be
the next ... I'm old and single...'

Meanwhile, another positive action came from Bishop Broderick Pabillo who joined people's organizations and the Inter-Faith JPIC Network to look into the situation of some barangays in Tondo that are currently affected by urban militarization. During the dialogue with the barangay chairman at the barangay hall (the second floor of which was occupied by soldiers), Bishop Pabillo witnessed the resistance of the military representative to face the questions raised on the real intent of their presence in urban communities.  When the barangay chairman spoke on behalf of the soldiers, saying that they are there for immersion, trying to explain away their usual rounds during the day and sometimes even late at night, the bishop wondered if it ever was normal to engage the residents in late night immersion.  As to the complaints of the residents regarding the presence of the military in their community, when the barangay chairman commented that people who are not guilty of doing anything wrong should not be afraid of the
soldiers, the bishop replied that if they [the soldiers] are not guilty of doing anything wrong, then why do they refuse to come down and "face us here"?

Bishop Pabillo also graced the launching of the Inter-Faith JPIC Network on March 6, 2006 at the Redemptorist Rudy Romano Hall, where he also shared a message of solidarity with the struggles of our urban poor brothers and sisters. His presence in these two events and his succeeding public pronouncements against urban militarization gave us a fresh image of a down-to-earth church leader who immersed among the poor, and that is certainly worthy of emulation.

Indeed, the Church as a major opinion-shaper can either move the faithful to join militant actions towards meaningful social change, or leave the faithful in the confines of their individual pursuit of personal salvation.  On the one hand, church pronouncements and actions that challenge government corruption, human rights violations and perennial neglect of the poor, greatly cultivate the moral grounds for the faithful to be persuaded into supporting the people's actions. On the other hand, the faithful must be wary of church pronouncements that attempt to sanctify the wrongdoings of the state and merely echo the pronouncements of military officials and of the infamous (in)justice secretary. Thus we must also criticize our church leaders when they fail to denounce injustice. Ultimately, our discernment, prayers and actions must always be founded on the people's aspirations for truth, justice and meaningful social change.  

Under Arroyo's undeclared martial rule, the Church must defend life and civil liberties at all cost. We must be vigilant of even more repressive measures against administration critics, including the recently signed anti-terrorism bill, renamed 'Human Security Law,' and the proposed restoration of the Anti-Subversion Law. Let us collectively stand in defense of human dignity, human rights and human life. We must not be mere spectators while our brothers and sisters are being attacked by assassins under Oplan Bantay Laya II, an anti-insurgency program launched by the military against critics of the fraudulent president. We pray that the millions of faithful will be moved to speak out and act in solidarity with the victims long before the 'mere specks of blood' turn into a bloodflow of tragic proportions beyond our power to plug. We continue to hope that more Bishops will raise their voices in denouncing the state policy that is behind the killings and the growing urban militarization, and help generate more pressure on the Arroyo government to immediately cease in its political assassination plots.

Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR)