Philippine bishops said they do not oppose the use of marijuana for medical purposes, especially in cases of terminally ill patients.
"It's to manage pain especially, in the last stage of their ailment ... Catholic medical ethics allows it," Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said during a press briefing on Monday.
"We can't issue a blanket rejection of the use of marijuana for medical purposes," said Villegas, president of the bishops' conference.
The bishops issued the statement amid calls in Congress to pass the "Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act" that will legislate the use of prohibited drugs for medical purposes.
"We are not advocating the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. We are only referring to terminally-ill patients who are in severe pain and the best assistance we could give to them is to minimize their pain, especially as they prepare for their death," Villegas said.
The prelate said there is no need to pass a new law to legalize the use of prohibited drugs because Philippine laws already allows its use in exceptional cases.
"Our lawyers advised us that the present law allows the Dangerous Drugs Board to issue impending rules and regulations so that these prohibited drugs may be used in very extreme exceptional cases," Villegas said.
"All we need to do is to identify which of them may be used," he said.
The country's Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 allows the use of dangerous drugs, including marijuana, for medical reasons.