Tagle: Bells to toll for drug war victims

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle yesterday sought the revival of the tolling of church bells for the dead as he asked government leaders and law enforcers to put an end to the killings in the war on drugs.

Tagle said this could not be the “new normal” in the country.

“We cannot allow the destruction of lives to become normal. We cannot govern the nation by killing. We cannot foster a humane and decent Filipino culture by killing,” Tagle said in a letter on the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He also gave instructions for the nightly tolling of all church bells in the archdiocese for five minutes starting Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.

“(This is) to call on everyone to remember the dead and pray for them. The tolling of church bells in the evening to pray for the dead is an old Filipino custom that has almost disappeared. Now is the right time to revive it,” Tagle said.

“As we denounce as inhuman and un-Christian an act willfully intended and planned to inflict harm or death on a human person, we call on those who harm or kill others to listen to their conscience, the voice of God that summons us to do good and avoid evil,” Tagle said.

Tagle expressed “pain and horror” over daily reports of killings in the country.

“Heartless violence can only be conquered by a change of heart and by discovering in the depth of our being the inclination to do good and to love our neighbor,” he added.

Tagle’s statement came fol- lowing the brutal killings of 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 17-year-old Kian delos Santos.

Thousands of people have also reportedly been killed in the government’s anti-drug war.

Tagle likewise asked parish priests to offer comfort to the families of those who were killed.

Young people stand up

Youth groups banded together yesterday to form a coalition against tyranny and what they called a rising militarist and fascist administration under President Duterte.

The coalition Youth Act Now Against Tyranny (YANAT) aims to bring together student councils, publications and other youth organizations.

In its manifesto, YANAT called on the young to take a stand and join the fight against injustices being done by the administration.

YANAT is also demanding an end to the war on drugs and the imposition of martial law in Mindanao.

The group has declared Sept. 21 as a national day of action to demand justice and peace in the country.

Meanwhile, around 500 rallyists joined the Black Friday protest in front of Miriam College along Katipunan Avenue to condemn the rising number of killings.

The protesters called for an end to impunity and called for justice for those killed in the name of the administration’s war on drugs, especially for Arnaiz, Delos Santos and De Guzman.

Rethink drug war

For its part, militant rights group Karapatan said there is a need to rethink and overhaul the government’s drug war.

“The anger over this campaign should be directed not only to its implementer – the Philippine National Police – but also to President Rodrigo Duterte himself. There is no hope in a government that murders the youth,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said.