more important though are the three challenges we impose

Four dioceses in Negros on ourselves,” he added. Ads by Kiosked

condemn drug killings anew

THE four Catholic dioceses in Negros Island again
condemned the rising number of killings due to the National
Government’s war on drugs. Bishop Patricio Buzon of
Bacolod City, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos City,
Bishop Julito Cortes of Dumaguete City, and Diocesan
Administrator Rolando Nueva of Kabankalan City, in a joint
statement Friday, said they sensed “the grief, the anguish,
the fear, the confusion, even the outrage and the many
troubling questions of family members, colleagues,
classmates, friends and communities of those who were
killed without due process, either as part of our government’s
war on drugs or counter-insurgency measures or as plain
civilian banditry.” The church leaders said they
acknowledged the enormity and gravity of the drug problem
as well as the peace and order situation. “They reveal to us
not only the political and criminal issues involved. They also
and more importantly mirror to us the deeper social ills
plaguing for so long our country – much more our island of
Negros! These social problems are deeply felt in areas
where there is defective governance and great socio-
economic-political-cultural and ecological imbalances,” they
said. They added that they deplore the glaring selectiveness
of handling the drug war where the poor are the main
victims. “Due process is strongly demanded in cases where
rich and influential people are involved like children of top
government officials while the poor who are merely
suspected of the crime are summarily executed. We believe
that this drug war as presently waged is based on a
shortsighted and superficial understanding of the problem
which needs a more comprehensive and integrated
approach,” they added. Moreover, the church leaders
challenged themselves and their dioceses to pray constantly
that the country may be effectively rid of the drug menace,
but in a manner that is just and lawful; to intensify their work
of evangelization particularly in the area of forming
consciences and promoting the culture of life, starting in the
families; and to offer their cooperation and collaboration with
government, civil society, and other churches in the work of
drug prevention and rehabilitation. They said they only
reaffirmed their statement last year, condemning the
increasing number of killings. They reiterated the sanctity of
human life. “This statement has become even more
necessary because of the unabated and appallingly
increasing incidents of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) as part of
‘One Time, Big Time’ campaign, riding-in-tandem shooting,
or anti-insurgency operations, as well as the ambushes
perpetrated by the underground revolutionary forces. We are
greatly alarmed, for example, by the spate of killings
committed even in broad daylight that is still going on in the
city of Guihulngan and the resulting climate of fear,
demoralization, and unpeace,” the church leaders said.
Buzon, in a text message, said they issued a statement as “a
reaffirmation of our first joint statement against EJKs, as well
as an alarm on recent developments, like the unabated
killings in Guihulngan, selective and myopic handling of the
drug war where the main victims are the poor.” “What is