Tagle: Stop wasting lives

Church bells to toll for drug war victims

Amid the increase in the killings in the country due to the war on illegal drugs, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle appealed to those responsible for such deaths to stop wasting lives.

“We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives,” Tagle said in a letter read in all Masses in his archdiocese Sunday, August 20.

Those with “sorrowful hearts and awakened consciences,” he said may come to their pastors to tell their stories and it will be documented

for the wider society.

The cardinal also knocked on the consciences of those manufacturing and selling illegal drugs to stop the activity.

Tolling of the bells In Pangasinan, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that starting tomorrow, church bells throughout his archdiocese will peal every 8 p.m. for 15 minutes for the victims of the bloody drug war.

In a pastoral letter, Villegas said the ringing of church bells is an offering of prayer for those who were killed.

“Matanggap nawa nila ang kapayapaang hindi nila naranasan noong sila ay nabubuhay pa (May they receive the peace that they didn’t experience when they were still alive),” he said in the letter read in his archdiocese Sunday, August 20.

Villegas expressed hope that the sound of the bells ringing would awaken the conscience of those people who have become numb and blind to what has been happening around them.

“Ang tunog ng kampana ay tinig ng Diyos na sana ay gumising sa konsensiyang manhid at bulag. Huwag kang papatay! Kasalanan yan! Labag sa batas yan! Yan ang sabi ng kampana! (The sound of bells is the voice of God that will hopefully awaken the conscience that has become numb and blind. Do not kill! That is a sin! That is against the law! Said the bells!),” he said.

Drug menace is real For his part, Tagle said the menace of illegal drugs is real and destructive which Filipinos must face and act upon together, as one people.

Unfortunately, Tagle said it has divided the people.

He said given the complexity of the issues, no single individual, group or institution could claim to have the only right response.

“We need one other. We cannot disregard each other,” said Tagle.

“Let us invite families, national government agencies, local government units, people’s organizations, schools, faith-based communities, the medical profession, the police and military, recovering addicts, etc. to come together, listen to each other and chart a common path,” he added.

Tagle wants dialogue

The Archdiocese of Manila, Tagle said, would be willing to host such multisectoral dialogue.

The Manila prelate said the illegal drug problem should not be reduced to a political or criminal issue saying it is a humanitarian concern that affects all of us.

Tagle said: “To understand the situation better, we need not only statistics but also human stories. Families with members who have been destroyed by illegal drugs must tell their stories. Families with members who have been killed in the drug war, especially the innocent ones, must be allowed to tell their stories. Drug addicts who have recovered must tell their stories of hope. Let their stories be told, let their human faces be revealed.”