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Priest tempts fate in crusade against Philippine killings

Redemptorist Father Amado Picardal says he has lost sense of fear
Priest tempts fate in crusade against Philippine killings

Father Amado Picardal, a 64-year-old Filipino Redemptorist priest, said he has lost his 'sense of fear' after the torture he received from his jailers. (Photo by Vincent Go)

Published: March 01, 2018 04:12 AM GMT
Updated: August 07, 2018 05:43 AM GMT

He was jailed and tortured for seven months when he was 17 years old for distributing leaflets against the military rule of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the early 1970s.

Since then, Amado Picardal, now a 64-year-old Redemptorist priest, has lost his "sense of fear."

When human rights and activist groups started a campaign against the spate of killings in the southern Philippines, they did not hesitate to approach the fearless priest.

It was 1998, the priest recalled, when he was invited by the youth group Tambayan in Davao City to lead prayers for two of the group's members who were shot earlier by unidentified gunmen.

"As we were praying, another young man was killed nearby," said the priest.

The victim was suspected of having broken the window of a car parked outside the church and stealing valuables inside the vehicle.

From then on, Father Picardal became entangled in the young people's crusade to monitor the almost daily killings in the city, where future president Rodrigo Duterte was then mayor.

A statement issued by then Davao Bishop Fernando Capalla on the spate of killings led to the formation of a coalition of activists, church people, and lawyers who protested the attacks.

Father Picardal, "Father Pics" to his friends, remembered being named spokesman of the group because he has "nothing to lose" having no family of his own as a priest. 

He took his role seriously, giving interviews to local and international media organizations about the situation in Davao City.

The priest established a pattern of the killings: Most of the victims were poor people who were linked by village officials to petty crimes.

He established rapport with the families of the victims, and even with some of the killers who admitted to the priest that some of their victims were children.

"What started as an anti-crime campaign became an anti-illegal drugs drive because there were drug addicts behind the criminal activities," Father Picardal told ucanews.com.

Because of his criticisms of the city government's campaign, the priest got the ire of future president Duterte who as early as then preached "peace and order" as his main agenda for public service.

"He accused me of protecting criminals while he turned a blind eye to the heinous crimes in the city," recalled the priest.

Threats to his life became "normal" to the priest even as he always reminds himself that he has long given up his life to God as a missionary.

He recalled how he was almost killed in jail during the martial law years when his interrogator put the barrel of his gun in his mouth and threatened to shoot.

Father Picardal said his detention and torture "hardened" his views of life. "Anyone can kill me as long as what I do is right," said the priest.

Violent death is not alien to the priest. Before Christmas of 1985, his then 59-year-old mother was shot and killed in Iligan City in Mindanao.

Father Picardal's mother was coming out of a bank when the robbers, thinking that the woman was carrying a lot of money, attacked.

"She only had 300 pesos (US$6) in her wallet," the priest said. An investigation into the incident revealed that the attackers were members of the Philippine Constabulary.

Despite this, his faith remained strong.

"I never doubted God's liberating goodness," said Father Picardal.

 

 

Redemptorist Father Amado Picardal, a vocal critic of the Philippine government's war against drugs, speaks before devotees of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help during a gathering in Manila in 2017. (Photo by Vincent Go)

 

'War on drugs'

As the International Criminal Court starts preliminary examinations into the killings linked to President Duterte's "war on drugs," the priest said he is hopeful that the truth will come out.

He expressed optimism that the international court will find sufficient grounds to pursue the case against those responsible for the deaths.

The Philippine National Police puts the official death toll in the war against illegal drugs at 3,987 people. Human Rights Watch, however, estimates that it's closer to 12,000.

Father Picardal said that if the trends continue, at least 70,000 people will be killed by the time Duterte's term is over in 2022.

Among the details provided in the complaint filed before the international court by Philippine lawyers were details of cases compiled by Father Picardal in Davao from 1998 to 2015.

The priest claimed that a death squad operating in Davao was responsible for the deaths of some 1,424 people during the period.

He said that of the total number of victims, 132 were children.

The priest does not disagree with the president that a lot of people, especially among the poor, use drugs.

But he said the government should have launched programs to alleviate poverty instead of inspiring the killings.

"[The government campaign] remains wanting," said the Redemptorist missionary. "Poverty breeds addiction, and without addressing poverty, the drug problem will continue."

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