Manila bishop: President promoting violence

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo has accused President Rodrigo Duterte of promoting “cultural violence’’ when he offered P20,000 to indigenous peoples (IPs) for every member of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) that they kill.

“It’s life, we should have a process. We have a process. You cannot just kill, whether he is a criminal or not,” Pabillo said.

On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to offer the lumad (non-Muslim indigenous peoples) P20,000 for each NPA they kill.

Duterte made the promise after the death of a tribal leader and his son, which killing the President blamed on the NPA.

“The way he talks, he spreads fear and it somehow promotes a series of cultural violence. That’s what we don’t like, to have a culture of violence,” Pabillo said.

The president of Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, Ma. Julietta Wasan, said she is offended by the President’s remark that he is ordering troops to shoot female NPA members in the vagina.

“Let us respect women, it is scary to hear that the President is ordering troops to shoot females in private parts of their body. I’m pleading, do not. We need justice, not violence,” she noted.

Pabillo also urged the government to focus on the faulty justice system.

“This is why we have courts, this why we conduct trials. If the process is

Several groups including Gabriella and Pasaka Confederation, the umbrella organization of 39

lumad groups, have rallied against the President’s use of the lumad against rebels.