A victim of a suspected summary execution is laid to rest in Manila on Aug. 3. (Photo by Vincent Go)
Catholic Church leaders say they are "powerless" to stop a growing number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that have come with President Rodrigo Duterte's take-no-prisoners war on drugs.
"What I predicted is happening, and the church is powerless to stop the killings," said Father Amado Picardal, head of the Philippine bishops' Commission for Basic Ecclesial Communities.
The Redemptorist priest said the killings are "already unstoppable," adding that some church leaders are losing hope.
Father Picardal, who has linked the president to a death squad allegedly responsible for the deaths of some 1,424, warned of "dark prospects" for the Philippines following the election of Duterte in May.
During his campaign for the presidency, Duterte vowed to stop criminality, especially the illegal drugs trade, and corruption in the first six months of his term, warning that his administration will be a "bloody" one.
Estimates put the number of people killed since he was elected in May at more than 600, with 211 murdered by unidentified gunmen.
Disturbed by the killings
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the bishops' conference, appealed to the Filipinos' sense of humanity amid the killings.
"There is a little voice of humanity in us that I believe is disturbed by the killings," said the prelate in a statement read in churches in his archdiocese at the weekend.
He noted that the "voice of disturbed humanity is drowned out by the louder voice of revenge or silenced by the sweet privileges of political clout."
"In our dream to wipe out drug addiction are we not becoming a 'killing fields' nation?" he said.
"I don't have to be a bishop to say this. I do not have to be a Catholic to be disturbed by the killings that jar us every time we hear or watch or read the news," Archbishop Villegas said.
In the statement titled, "Let humanity in us speak," the archbishop said he is "in utter disbelief," adding that the killings "are too much to swallow."
"From a generation of drug addicts, shall we become a generation of street murderers? [Can] the do-it-yourself justice system assure us of a safer and better future?" he said.
'Out of control'
Father Virgilio Canete of Palo Archdiocese said the killings are "out of control."
The priest's remarks came after three drug suspects were found murdered in the city Tacloban last week near to where Pope Francis celebrated Mass in January 2015.
The victims, two of them women, were shot several times. A crude sign that said "I am a Pusher, Lord I am sorry" was placed next to the bodies.
On Aug. 3, six people linked to a drug syndicate were killed in a police operation in the small town of Albuera in Leyte province.
"Only the police and the president can stop the killings by declaring a moratorium," said Father Canete.
"The church cannot do anything now," said the priest. "It had already warned of the consequences. Only those who started these bloodbaths can stop it," he added.
Additional reporting by Ronald Reyes in Tacloban City
